Dr. William M. Lashman
DR. WILLIAM MITCHELL LASHMAN was born in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire, in 1888 to Samuel and Lotti Lashman. Coming to America with his family at the age of 4, he graduated from Central High School in Philadelphia in 1906 and from Jefferson Medical College in 1912. He interned at Chester Hospital in Chester, Pennsylvania in 1913 and was subsequently appointed to Camden General Hospital.
The 1914 Camden City Directory shows Dr. Lashman living with his parents and sisters at 512 Broadway.
Dr. Lashman did post-graduate works at the University of Pennsylvania and at the Woman’s Medical College in 1918 and 1919. He practiced in Camden and Philadelphia for 39 years, specializing in Internal Medicine and Industrial Medicine. He served as Camden’s Assistant Director of the city’s Department of Health from 1943 to 1946, and was a member of the Camden City Medical Association and the Camden County Medical Association. Dr. Lashman’s offices in the late 1930s were at 1308 Broadway and also had offices at 527 Cooper Street.
Dr. Lashman was active in religious and civic affairs in Camden. He helped found the Boy Scouts in Camden and was the city’s first scoutmaster, and he founded and was first president of the B’nai Brith chapter in Camden. He was also a founder and first president of the South Jersey Medical Society. He also was a published poet. He had lived in Parkside at 1404 Baird Avenue in the 1920s and 1930s. By 1947 he had moved to 1401 Baird Avenue. He last made his home at 2269 Baird Boulevard in East Camden.
Dr. Lashman passed away on July 21, 1951. He was survived by his wife, Anna Bortin Lashman, a daughter, Frances Lashman Greene, and two sons, William Goddard Lashman and Commander Shelley Bortin Lashman USN, a survivor of the sinking of the USS Yorktown during WWII and a noted lawyer and jurist for many years, who was still active as a Workmen’s Compensation judge as late as October 2002.
Camden Hebrews Desire Building
Philadelphia Inquirer —
CAMDEN HEBREWS DESIRE BUILDING
Y. M. H. A. Will Launch Campaign for Funds at Mass Meeting Tomorrow
Under the auspices of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association, of Camden, N. J., a vigorous campaign to raise a fund for the erection of a Hebrew communal building will be launched in that city tomorrow afternoon at a meeting in the Broadway Theatre at 3 P. M. This meeting will be free to the public and will be addressed by well-known men of Philadelphia and Camden, many of whom are closely identified with movements in general concerning the welfare of Hebrew people throughout the country.
Among the speakers will be Dr. Cyrus Adler, president of Dropsie College; Isaac Hassler, president of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association of Philadelphia; Mayor Ellis, of Camden; and Sigmund Schoenagle.
The committee in charge of the campaign is composed of Joseph Kanter, Max Goldich, Bertrand Schueeberg, William M. Lashman, Benjamin Natal, Mark Obus, Jacob Furer and Arnold Weiss.
Jewish Communal Project Launched
Philadelphia Inquirer —
JEWISH COMMUNAL PROJECT LAUNCHED
Thousand Persons Hear Advocacy of Young Men’s Hebrew Association of Camden
More than a thousand persons crowded into the Broadway Theatre, Camden, yesterday afternoon and heard Isaac Hassler, of Philadelphia, impress upon his hearers the importance and necessity of a Jewish communal building, such as was planned by the Young Men’s Hebrew Association of Camden and launched by them yesterday. “There are many things that the Jew of today needs, and the only thing to my mind to satisfy that need is the organization of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association,” said Mr. Hassler.
The meeting opened about four o’clock with J. F. Kantor, head of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association, presiding. Mr. Kantor briefly outlined the aims and purposes of the communal building campaign. He explained that Camden was entirely lacking in the facilities to safeguard and foster in the Jewish youth the desired knowledge and surroundings and that a building that would embrace a house of worship, a Sabbath school, a Talmud Torah, an auditorium for worthy social and public functions, assembly rooms for numerous philanthropic and beneficial organizations and facilities for recreation and exercise were not only desirable but a necessity.
Dr. Cyrus Adler, president of Drexel College, sent a letter that was read before the assembly, in which he expressed the hope that the Hebrew people would realize the duty to their past, to their community and to their children and would co-operate and unite in making the proposed institution a real help.
The meeting was conducted under the direction of the following committee of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association: Chairman, J. F. Kantor; Dr. William M. Lashman, Benjamin Natal, Max Goldich, Mark Obus, Jacob L. Furer, Arnold Weis and Bertrand Schneeburg.
World War I Draft Registration Card
World War I draft registration card for Dr. William M. Lashman.
World War II Draft Registration Card
World War II draft registration card for Dr. William M. Lashman.
Dr. Lashman Dies; Was City’s First Scoutmaster
Camden Courier-Post —
DR. LASHMAN DIES; WAS CITY’S FIRST SCOUTMASTER
Funeral services were held today for Dr. William Mitchell Lashman, 62, of 2269 Baird boulevard, Camden, in the Berschler funeral home. Burial was in Har Nebo cemetery, Philadelphia.
Doctor Lashman died Saturday at 7 p. m. in Jefferson hospital, Philadelphia, where he had been a patient since April 25. He was born in Riga, Latvia, a son of Samuel and Lotti Lashman, and came to this country when four years old. He was graduated from Jefferson Medical college in 1912 and did postgraduate work in public health at the University of Pennsylvania and in toxicology and public health at Jefferson.
For 39 years he practiced in Camden and Philadelphia and was associated with the staffs of Jefferson and Mount Sinai hospitals.
Active in religious and civic fields, Doctor Lashman helped found the Boy Scouts in Camden and was the city’s first scoutmaster; he founded and was first president of B’Nai Brith in Camden and helped found the Camden YMHA. He taught in one of Camden’s first Hebrew Sunday schools and was an organizer of the Reformed Congregation Beth-El. Later he affiliated with the Orthodox synagog, Congregation Sons of Jacob.
The doctor was a member of the American Medical Association, the Camden County Medical society and was a founder and first president of the South Jersey Medical society. During War I and II he served on the Camden draft board and for the last five years was associated with the Veterans Administration as a medical examiner.
Also during War II he served as assistant health officer of the city of Camden. As a relief from professional work and civic duties he wrote numerous poems, many of which were published in literary journals. He also had several poems in “The Anthology of American Poets.”
In addition to his widow, Anna Bortin Lashman, he is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Frances Lashman Greene; two sons, Cmdr. Shelley B. Lashman, U. S. N., survivor of the sinking of the USS Yorktown, and William Goddard Lashman, Collingswood; a brother, Morris M.; a sister, Anna, and three grandchildren.