James Lasley was born October 3, 1893, to Nelson Franklin (Bird) and
     Belle V. Lunsford Lasley near Downing, Missouri. He accompanied his parents
     and three sisters by wagon train to Edna, Kansas, at the age of six. There
     his father acquired a farm south of Edna through his Indian Head Rights.
     When Jim was a boy of 9, some Indians from the Territory rode into the yard
     one day to ask permission for him to go to their village and play for a
     dance. After a big discussion, Bird said they could take Jim to play if 
     they would return him to his home by noon next day. A nervous young fiddler
     accompanied the Indians, played all night, and was returned home safely.
     He played many more times for them.
        Jim came to Barber County as a youth when his father bought a farm 2 1/2
     miles northwest of Hardtner. There he and a neighbor boy, Edd Sterling,
     became close friends, a friendship that lasted their lifetimes. It was Edd
     who introduced Jim to Mary Richardson, daughter of W.S. and Sarah Atteberry
     Richardson of Aetna, and two years later they were married. Jim and Mary
     made their home on the family farm for approximately two years, and then,
     with their son Dale, moved to Iowa. Five daughters joined the family before
     they returned to Hardtner in 1943 to buy the City Cafe (later renamed the
     Chuck Wagon) which they opereated for 32 years.
        Jim loved sports, especially baseball, and managed teams all through the
     years in Iowa and Kansas. He also did some scouting for some major league
     teams.
        Among his favorite childhood memories was one of watching Frank James,
     brother of Jesse, officiate a horse race in Lancaster, Missouri. Frank, who
     had been pardoned, was old at that time, but nobody contested his decision!
        Many remember Jim best as a "darn good country fiddler", and all his life
     was marked by music. Jim and his fiddle, with Dale seconding on his banjo,
     played the square dance music for the Wagon Train scene in several Peace
     Treaty pageant productions. He passed away in 1972; is burried at Hardtner,
     as is his son, Dale.
        Six children were born to James and Mary Lasley:
        Dale, born northwest of Hardtner, was educated in Iowa, where he excelled
     in sports. He was a cafe owner and a grocer in Hardtner. In December, 1944,
     he married Elsa Bostrom of Fort Madison, Iowa. They had one daughter, Sandra,
     born in Hardtner in February, 1950. Sandra married Mike Hall and they live
     in NOrman, Oklahoma. Sandra has a Masters in Special Education, and commutes
     to Shawnee, where she teaches.
        Gayle, born in 1918, in Kiowa, married Vestal Lee Cook, Jr., a Hardtner
     rancher, in 1949. She was a Marine Mess Sergeant during WWII. They have
     three children. June Charlene (born 1951) who married Davyd Morris of Fort
     Collins, Colorado in June, 1978. Mollie Maureen (born 1954) lives in Wichita.
     John Vestal (born November 1956) is ranching with his father.
        June Elaine, of Wichita (born 1920) married Leonard Jacob (Dutch) 
     Achenbach. She has three children; born at Hardtner, Jacob Leonard and
     Charles Edward, both ranching near Hardtner, and Jeanne Marie working in
     Wichita.
        Marie Tessie of Minatare, Nebraska (born 1922) married to L. Putney
     Overton. She has three children: Gayle Jo McGann, (born 1941) who married
     O.R. Cousatte of Wichita, Mary Frances McGann (born 1944) who lives in
     California, and Robin Eldred Overton, in college at Kearney, Nebraska.
        Billie Jeanne of Ada, Oklahoma (born 1931) is married to Dr. Jim B.
     Wallace. They have two children, Cathy Jeanne and Jamie Dayle, both in
     college.
        Patricia of Tulsa, Oklahoma (born 1941) married John R. Pierpoint of
     Wichita. She has one daughter, Kimberli Dayl Pierpoint, who attends grade
     school in Tulsa. Patricia is a legal secretary.
                
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 273 
     Submitted by: Patricia Lasley Pierpoint