Laura Remington

Younger classmate of Laura and Carrie Ingalls, and daughter of Hellen and William N. Remington. She married attorney Aubrey Lawrence from Brookings.

Advices from Mauston, Wis., state that Miss Laura Remington, who has been so long and seriously ill, is very much better. Good news to her many friends hereabouts. – April 1888 De Smet newspaper.

     
Laura Belle Remington was born September 30, 1872, at Mauston (Juneau County) Wisconsin, the eldest daughter of William N. Remington and Hellen (Clark) Remington.

William Remington enlisted in Company K, 6th Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War, and was wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg and at the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse in Laurel Hill, Virginia, the following year. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in July 1863.

Captain Remington filed on a tree claim, the SW 13-111-56, on June 19, 1879. He filed on a homestead, the SE 14-111-56, on December 23, 1879, returning to Wisconsin for the winter. The Remington family came to Kingsbury County in 1880, friends and relatives of the Lathrops and Robinsons who also had lived in Mauston, Wisconsin. Laura Remington was in the same school class as Minnie Johnson, Lizzie Power, and Carrie Ingalls, and she was mentioned as one of the younger girls in school in Pioneer Girl, and as part of a sleighing party in These Happy Golden Years. After Captain Remington’s death from complications of consumption in 1886 (he was buried in Mauston), Mrs. Remington cancelled the tree claim and preempted the quarter section, paying cash on November 1, 1887. The next year, she purchased a house in De Smet on Second Street, and lived there with her daughters. Hellen Remington died in 1913 and was buried in the De Smet cemetery.

Laura Remington was quite active in De Smet social life as a girl. After leaving school in 1888, she spent the winter at her old home in Mauston. Upon her return, she entertained quite often, including hosting a cake-and-ice-cream Valentine’s party for fifty – with printed invitations – along with Lizzie Power. A “lemon squeeze” party was given for the ladies of the Baptist Church. For Old Settler’s Day in 1890, Laura was in charge of the merchant’s carnival, made up of 24 young ladies with banners advertising local businesses. She was also active in Ladies’ Aid and Good Templars, and tennis parties were frequently held on the Remington lawn.

On November 12, 1890, Laura Remington married Aubrey Lawrence, son of Matilda and Phillip Lawrence. Aubrey was born June 13, 1870, in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. The Lawrences homesteaded in Brookings County; Aubrey graduated from South Dakota State College in 1888 and was admitted to the Bar in 1889. Laura and Aubrey lived for many years in Brookings, where Aubrey practiced law. They later moved to Fargo, North Dakota, then to Washington, D.C., where Aubrey was special assistant to the Attorney General under President Hoover. He worked with the Federal Farm Board and the Federal Power Commission. Laura and Aubrey had one son, Raymond, born in March 1892.

Laura Lawrence died December 6, 1936, in Washington, D.C. Her body was brought to De Smet for burial. Aubrey Lawrence died April 20, 1953, and was buried in Washington, D.C.

     

Laura Remington (PG)
     De Smet Cemetery tour info for REMINGTON