On the distaff side, Lashley's great-grandfather was Osa Spencer, also of English blood. By his second wife, Ann Mercer, Osa fathered seven children including David Hatton Spencer, grandfather to Karl. David married Maria Chalfonte who must have been a woman of great energy and strong character for she not only raised nine children, but, following her husband's death, successfully managed the family farm for thirty-six years until her death at the age of ninety.