Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/377

 LAWRENCE

LAWRENCE

the verge of baiikiHptcy, he was elected its presi- dent, and bj' means of an enabling act obtained from the legislature, bankruptcy was avoided, and the valuable leaseholds of the corporation were saved from disruption. On its lease to tlie Boston & Maine railroad, Dec. 2, 1884, he became a director of that road, and on Oct. 11, 1893, be- came a member of its executive committee. He was elected a director of the Elaine Central rail- road companj' in 1875. He was a member of the Massachusetts volunteer militia, 18.5.5-59, and in 1860 was commissioned colonel of the 5th Massa- chusetts regiment. He participated in the first battle of Bull Run. where he was wounded. He was commissioned a brigadier-general in the Massachusetts volunteer mililia, June 9, 1862, and was honorably discharged, Aug. 90, 1864. In 1869 he was commander of the Ancient and Hon- orable Artillery company. In 1892, upon the in- corporation of the city of Medford, he was elected its first mayor and served two years. Early in life he became a member of the Masonic frater- nity, and served as grand master of Masons in Massachusetts, 1881-83, and as Grand Com- mander of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templars of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, 1894-95. He became an active member and offi- cer of the Supreme Council, 33d degree, in 1866. On April 28, 18.59, he was married to Carrie Re- becca, daughter of the Rev, William and Rebecca Badger of Charlestown.

LAWRENCE, Thomas, clergyman and edu- cator, was born at Crossford-on-the-Clyde, Lan- arkshire, Scotland, June 5, 1832 ; son of John and Christina (Johnstone) Lawrence ; and grandson of Thomas and Mary (Kerr) Lawrence, and of Robert and Lilias (Kennedy) Johnstone. He was brought to America in 1838 bj' his parents, and spent his boyhood in Alle- gheny City, Pa. He was graduated from the Western Univer- sity of Pennsylvania in 18.58; from the Theological semina- ry, Allegheny City, Pa,, in 1861, and was pastor of the Put- ram congregation, Wasiiington county, X.Y., 1862-67. He was married in June, 1865, to Sarah Maria Carl, of Argyle, N.Y., and had two children ; and secondly, to Harriet Au- gusta Bid well, of Jersey City, N.J., in 1883, and had one child. He spent eighteen months in study at the universities of Bonn and Leipzig^

Germany, 1868-69 ; spent some months in mis- sionary labors in the west in 1869-70 ; was pastor of Sharpsburg church, Pittsburg, Pa., 1870-79 -, was moderator of the Synod of Erie, Kittanning,. Pa., 1879, of Atlantic, Charlotte, N.C., 1883, of Tennessee, Madisonville, Tenn., 1898; was twice elected a meml)er of the general assembly of the U.P. church, and five times a member of the gen- eral assembly of the Presbyterian church, and was a delegate to the Pan-Presbyterian asseml^ly, Glasgow, Scotland, 1896. He was professor of Greek and Hebrew exegesis in Biddle university, Charlotte, N.C., 1879-91, and he raised a fund ag- gregating ^50,000 to erect new university build- ings. In 1891 lie became president of the Normal and Collegiate institute, Asheville, N.C., in con- nection with the superintendency of Presby- terian mission school work in western North Carolina. He received the honoi'ary degree of D.D. from the University of Western Pennsyl- vania in 1881, He is the author of published ser- mons and educational pamphlets, and of contri- butions to magazines and periodicals.

LAWRENCE, William, representative, was born in Washington, Guernsey county, Ohio, Sept, 2, 1814 ; son of Samuel and Rachel (Davis) Lawrence; and grandsoii of John and Margaret Lawrence, who emigrated from county Derry, Ireland, in 1785, His great grandparents were from Scotland and settled in the north of Ireland in the seventeenth century. He was graduated at Jefferson college, Pa., in 1835, and was a mer- chant in his native city, 1836-79. He was mar- ried, xVug. 3, 1847, to Margaret Esther, daughter of Samuel Ramsay. He was a representative in the Ohio state legislature, 1843-44 ; Democratic presidential elector, 1848 ; member of the state constitutional convention, 1850-51 ; state senator, 18.56-58, 1868-70, 1886-88; representative in the 35th congress, 1857-.59 ; candidate for presidential elector, 1868 and 1884, and a director of the Ohio penitentiary, 1874-75, He died in "Washington, Ohio, Sept. 9. 1895.

LAWRENCE, William, representative, was born at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, June 26. 1819 ; son of Joseph and Temperance (Gilcrist) Lawrence, and a descendant of John and William Lawrence, of Long Island, N.Y. He was graduated from Franklin college, Ohio, A.B., 1838, A.M., 1841, and from the Cincinnati Law school, LL,B., 1840,. and practised in Bellefontaine, Ohio, 1840-99. He was commissioner of bankruptcy for Logan county in 1842 ; prosecuting attorney, 1845-46 ; editor and proprietor of the Logan County Gazette, 184-5-47, and subsequently conducted the Western Law Monthly. He was a representative in the state legislature, 1846-48 ; state senator, 1849-51 ; reporter of the Ohio supreme court, 1852, and iudge of the court of common pleas and of the