The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-08-30
FREDERICK .LAHRB USH.


OF neat but unpretending suite of
apartments on the second floor of No.
513 Third avenue, in New York city,
quietly and peacefully ended the most
eventful life of which L remember to
have heard. The world moved slowly in
the times when mems lives were meas
ured by centuries, and it is doubtful if
Methuselah lived so Congratulated by
SUGGESTIONS of experiences and sensa-
tions-as Capt. Lahrbush. cage is
dark and unlovely" Never was we'll
worn adage more emphatically contra
dicted; brighter, SUMMER face, or a
more cheerful and happy mind, it would
be difficult to find than that presented
by this old man, who had outlived his
own and the succeeding generation: and,
having buried all who were connected
to him by the ties of blood, was patiently
waiting the end of life which had ex-
tended over more than a century, and
from which his mind seemed to have
gathered only pleasant memories.
513 Third avenue, having called en- him
upon matter of business. Notwith-
standing his weight of years, he came
forward from an innerapartment to greet
his visitor, with form more erect and a
step less infirm than ere possessed by
many men of 70. His voice was clear
and distinct, though pitched to the shrill
key of old age; and his sight, with the
aid of spectacles, was perfectly good, as
evidenced by the readiness with which
he read the card that he held in his hand.
His face was full and remarkably well
rounded, presenting the appearance
with the exception of the mouth, which
showed the absence of teeth-of that of
middle-aged rather than of an old
man. His eyes were clear and bright,
and his hearing was apparently perfect.
Capt. Lahrbush was born in London,
near Lambeth Palace, March 8, 1856.
His father was a native of Berlin, and
WAS then living in London as an attache
of the Prussian embassy, in which posi-
ion he had become acquainted with and
married his wife, an English lady. In
1871 or 1882 the parents removed to Ber-
lin, taking their son with them; but in
1871 they returned to England with the
Prussian embassy, and young Lahrbush
engaged in business AS clerk with John
Drop & Co., in Love Lane, London,
where heremained until 1894, when he &C
companied, as a volunteer, an expedition
sent from England to Holland under the
Duke Of York. He was absent little
less than year, residing there uninter-
ruptedly until 1901, though his father
died in 1896.
In 1906 Lahrbush was living in Prue-
STA. He was in the town of Dantzic, on
the Baltic, when the battle of Jena was
fought, after which the Prussian court
left Berlin, just in time to save capture
by the French, and the English embassy
followed it to Memel. The peace CT
Tilsit was followed by the creation of the
kingdom of Westphalia, from the terri
tory on the west bank of the Rhine,
which Napoleon gave to his brother Je-
rome. A CONSUMPTION followed, and
Lahrbush was forced into the French
army, where he was at first member of
Jerome Bonaparte's bodyguard, but was
soon drafted into the First regiment of
the line, and made First Lieutenant.
He subsequently made his escape, and
returned to England, where, through the
influence of friends, he was introduced
to the Duke OF Cumberland, who became
interested in his history and procured
him an Ensign's commission in the Six
tieth Royal regiment. Hewas sent to the
Spanish peninsula, where he served I'M
der the Duke of Wellington, and was en-
gagged in the battle of Busaco, soon after
which he was made First Lieutenant,
transferred to another regiment, and sent
to the Cape of Good Hope.
Six years later, in 1873 Lahrbush lost
his commission in the army. He used
to speak of this as the greatest misfort-
une of his life, and said that it was due
to his engaging in mercantile affairs con-
trary to army regulations. For thirty
years following this event he was rover,
though he spent the first part of this
period as overseer of small convict set
Element at Bathurst, Australia, whittier
he went Immediately upon his dismissal
from the army. In 1874 he went to
Tahiti, Valparaiso, Rio Janeiro, and
other South American ports. He re-
sided two years at Tahiti. and would
have staid longer. bnt, unfortunately, he
gave offense by some careless remarks
about the Roman Catholic Church, and
was politely invited by the French Adj
miral, Dupetit Thouars, to return to
Europe, and free passage was offered
him on French frigate. Lahrbush
naturally supposed he had DO option in
the matter, and went. Residing only a
short time in Paris, he returned to Lon
don after an absence of more than forty
years. Subsequently Lord Howard de
Walden made him overseer of his estate
in Jamaica, where he remained until
1913, when negro emancipation ruined
the trade. He then came to New
York at the age of 80, and has since re-
sided here, where, as he used gratefully
to say, he found many and kind friends.
He brought little money With him;
this he invested in real estate, which has
greatly increased in value. The late
William H. Aspinwall, the venerable