Robert Lawrence, the first known progenitor of this family, was of Lancashire, England, born probably as early as A.D. 1150, and the ancestor of the early families of Lawrence in England. Attending his sovereign, Richard Coeur de Lion, to the was of the Crusades, he distinguished himself in the siege of Acre, and was knighted Sir Robert of Ashton Hall. His arms: Argent, a cross raguly gules.

(II) Sir Robert Lawrence was successor to the estate of Ashton Hall; married a daughter of James Trafford, of Lancashire.

(III) James Lawrence, married in 1252, Matilda de Washington, heiress, daughter of John de Washington.

(IV) John Lawrence succceeded to Ashton Hall; married Margaret, daughter of Walter Chesford.

(V) John Lawrence was his father's heir; married Elizabeth Holt, of Stably, Lancashire, and died 1360.

(VI) Sir Robert Lawrence succeeded to Ashton Hall; married Margaret Holden, of Lancashire. Children: Robert (mentioned below), Thomas, William, Edmund.

(VII) Sir Robert Lawrence had Ashton Hall; married Amphilbis, daughter of Edward Longford. Children: James (heir to the estate), Robert, Nicholas (mentioned below).

(VIII) Nicholas Lawrence was of Argercroft. Children: Thomas, Nicholas, Robert, John (mentioned below), William, Henry, Oliver.

(IX) John Lawrence, died 1461, was of Agercroft, ancestor of the family of St. James Park, in Suffolk, as stated in the pedigree of the Lawrences of Ashton Hall.

(X) Thomas Lawrence was of Rumburgh, and held lands in other places. Children: John (mentioned below), Richard, of St. Ives. The will of Thomas is dated July 17, 1471.

(XI) John Lawrence married Margery ____. His will is dated July 10, 1504. His wife died in 1507, and both are buried in the church at Rumburgh.

(XII) Robert Lawrence was named in his father's will, with his wife and that of her mother-in-law.

(XIII) John Lawrence married Elizabeth ____. Children: Henry, John (mentioned below), Agnes, Margaret, Katherine, William (of St. James Park, South Elmham, exiled during the reign of Queen Mary), Richard (of Wissel and Rumburgh, died 1556).

(XIV) John Lawrence married Agnes ____. Children: John (mentioned below), Richard (died 1596), Susan, Elizabeth, Margaret. His will is dated April 27, 1590. He was buried at Rumburgh, May 21, 1590, and his wife died Jan. 22, 1583.

(XV) John Lawrence was of Wisset, county Suffolk. He married Joan ____. His will is dated June 2, 1606, and he was buried Jan. 16, 1607. Children: Henry (mentioned below), Robert (whose will makes his kinsman, Henry North, of Laxfield, a son of Sir Henry North, and grandson of Lord North), Margery, Katherine.

(XVI) Henry Lawrence married Mary ____. His father's will refers to him as having removed from Wisset to New England and settled in Charlestown. In the first division of land in Charlestown, on the Mystic side, he received five acres of land for a home lot Feb. 20, 1638. Another lot was transferred to him in 1635 by George Blott. He seems to have died in the early forties, and it is supposed that his second wife, Christian, is the widow who, with her son John, sold house and land there July 22, 1646. The widow died March 3, 1647-48.
The only known child was John, mentioned below.

(XVII) John Lawrence, usually known as the immigrant ancestor of the family, was baptized at Wisset, county Suffolk, England, Oct. 8, 1609. In 1639 he gave his age as twenty-four, in 1657 as about thirty-five. But he married before 1635, and this statement of his age was not accurate in either case, or else was incorrectly recorded, a common occurence. He was admitted a freeman April 17, 1637, and received a grant of land at Watertown of three acres, Feb. 28, 1636. In 1650 he bought of the town fifteen acres of common land. He was a carpenter by trade. He sold his mansion and land at Watertown in 1662 and removed to Groton, where in December of that year he was elected selectman. He was evidently a man of some intelligence and influence and a large property owner. He continued his business of carpenter at Watertown as at Groton, also in Boston.
He died at Groton, July 11, 1667. In his will he appoints his wife and sons, Nathaniel and Joseph, executors.
His first wife, Elizabeth, died Aug. 29, 1663, and he married (second) Susanna, daughter of William Bachiler, of Charlestown. She died July 8, 1668, and mentions in her will daughters Abigail and Suanna, and sisters Rachel Atwood, and Abigail Asting.
Children:
1. John, born March 14, 1636.
2. Nathaniel, Oct. 16, 1639.
3. Joseph, March, 1642; died May, 1642.
4. Joseph, born May 30, 1643.
5. Jonathan, buried April 6, 1648.
6. Mary, born July 16, 1645.
7. Peleg, mentioned below.
8. Enoch (q.v.), March 5, 1648-49.
9. Samuel, removed to Connecticut.
10. Isaac, born about 1652.
11. Elizabeth, born May 9, 1655.
12. Jonathan, left a hundred pounds to buy a meeting house bell, and it was voted by the town of Groton to inscribe his name on the bell.
13. Zechariah, born March 9, 1658-59, in Watertown.
Children of second wife:
14. Abigail, born Jan. 9, 1666.
15. Susanna, July 3, 1667.

(XVIII) Peleg, son of John Lawrence, was born Jan. 10, 1647, and died at Groton in 1692. He married, in 1688, Elizabeth, born Sept. 1, 1647, daughter of Joseph Morse.
Children, born in Groton:
Elizabeth, Jan. 9, 1669, married Jsoeph Gilson.
Samuel, Oct. 16, 1671, died at Killingly, Conn. March, 1712.
Eleazer, Feb. 28, 1674, of Littleton, Mass.
Jonathan, March 29, 1679.
Abigail, Oct. 6, 1681.
Jeremiah, Jan. 3, 1686, died young.
Joseph, mentioned below.
Daniel, settled at Plainfield, Conn., 1708, and became prominent there.
Susanna.

(XIX) Joseph, son of Peleg Lawrence, was born at Groton, Mass., June 12, 1688. He settled in Plainfield, Conn. before 1712, with his brother Daniel. In December, 1720, he was chosen "to care for the boys and girls Sabbath days and restrain them from playing and profaning Sabbath."
He married Mary ____, whose will, dated March 7, 1765, proved April 10, 1769, mentions daughter Mary and grandchildren Rachel Lawrence, Abigial Cady, Experience Williams, Relief Lawrence, Sarah Williams, Priscilla Gallup, Joseph, Thomas and Josiah Lawrence (mentioned below). The daughter Mary married Lemeul Dean and (second) John Williams.

(XX) Samuel, son of Joseph Lawrence, was born probably at Plainfield about 1710. He married Patience ____. Among their children were Susan and Bigelow, baptized respectively, June 3, 1739 and July 20, 1740. He settled in Norwich. In 1728 he was one of those injured by the fall of a bridge across the Shetucket, then being rebuilt. In 1736 his name is on a list of those receiving bounties at Norwich for killing rattlesnakes.

(XXI) Josiah, grandson of Joseph Lawrence (XIX) as provedr by the will cited above, and son or nephew of Samuel Lawrence, was born in Norwich or vicinity, about 1740. He was a soldier in the revolution, and about 1790 removed from Connecticut and settled in Monkton, Bennington county, Vermont, on a homstead on the north end of Hogback mountain.
He married, in 1761, in Norwich or New Milford, Conn., Mary Branch, widow.
Children:
Mary, born Dec. 19, 1761.
Josiah, mentioned below.
Lucy, April 2, 1765.
Roger, March 4, 1767.
Deborah, Jan. 13, 1769.
Diah, born in Norwich, 1772, settled in Monkton after 1790, married 1800, Lucretia Peck, and had thirteen children:
Judah, June 3, 1744.
Solomon, March 16, 1778.

(XXII) Josiah (2), son of Josiah (1) Lawrence, was born in Hartford, Conn., Nov. 29, 1763, died at Monkton, Vermont, July 3, 1835. He married, Dec. 1788, Sally Willoughby, born in Bennington, Vermont, June, 1764. In February, 1789, he moved to Monkton with his brother Diah, and settled on the farm now (1910) occupied by Bert Lawrence (mentioned in XXIV). He was a soldier in the war of 1812-14.
Children:
Prosper, born Sept. 25, 1790.
Sophia, Jan. 7, 1793.
Ruby, April 19, 1794.
Lephia, May 26, 1796.
Heman, May 16, 1798.
Orrin, Dec. 6, 1799.
Ethan Allen, mentioned below.

(XXIII) Ethan Allen, son of Josish (2) Lawrence, was born July 18, 1804, at Monkton, Vermont, and died there Aug. 21, 1884. He was named for General Ethan Allen, under whom his grandfather Josiah served in the war of the revolution.
He was a farmer.
He married (first) Jane Peake, April 25, 1827; (second) Mary Wells, April 25, 1842.
Children by first wife:
Morris S., Malinda, Daniel (mentioned below), and Huldah J.
By second wife:
Mary L.

(XXIV) Daniel, son of Ethan Allen Lawrence, was born in Monkton, Vermont, Oct. 26, 1837, and died there July 4, 1904. He received a common school education, and followed farming during his active life, most of the time on the old Lawrence homestead. He was elected to various office of trust and honor in the town, being for a number of years selectman.
He married, Dec. 26, 1867, Martha A. Brown, born Oct. 10, 1847, daughter of William Brown of Starksboro, Vermont.
Children:
1. William E., born Aug. 1, 1871; physician in North Haverhill, New Hampshire; married Edith Bidwell; one daughter, Marion.
2. Etta M., born Aug. 19, 1873; married Arden Lawrence; children: Jane and Elmer.
3. Ellsworth C., born Sept. 12, 1876, mentioned below.
4. Bert L., born Oct. 12, 1878; farmer on the old homestead at Monkton; married Bertha Lesure; children: Lucile and Rachel.
5. Lydia Jane, born Nov. 21, 1886; teacher.

(XXV) Ellsworth C., son of Daniel Lawrence, was born in Albany, Vermont, Sept. 12, 1876. When a babe his parents removed to Monkton, Vermont. He was educated in the schools there, Beaman Academy, New Haven, Vermont, Bristol (Vermont) high school, and later entered Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, from which he was graduated in the class of 1901. He then began the study of the law in the office of Hon. John I. Gilbert, Malone, New York, and was admitted to the New York bar in March, 1904. Upon the death of Mr. Gilbert, with whom he was associated, he succeeded to his practice. Since January, 1907, he has been a partner in the law firm of Bryant & Lawrence, at Malone, N.Y.
He is a United States Commissioner for the Northern District of New York. He is a member of Northern Constellation Lodge of Free Masons at Malone, of the Chi Psi fraternity of Middlebury College, and of the board of trustees of the Northern New York Institution for Deaf Mutes.
In politics he is a Republican.
He married, June 21, 1905, Lillian Trussell, born Nov. 24, 1878, daughter of Charles Trussell, of Lawrence, N.Y. They have one son, Ellsworth Newcombe, born April 4, 1907.

SECOND ENTRY:

(XVIII) Enoch Lawrence, son of John Lawrence (XVII, q.v.), was born March 5, 1648-49. He married, March 6, 1676-77, in Watertown, Ruth, daughter of John and Ruth Whitney, and widow of John Shattuck, of Watertown.
Children:
Nathaniel, born Feb. 21, 1677-78.
Daniel, born March 7, 1681, mentioned below.
Zechariah, born July 16, 1683.
Jeremiah, born May 1, 1686, died Sept. 28, 1744.

(XIX) Daniel, son of Enoch Lawrence, was born in Groton, March 7, 1681. He married Sarah ____.
Children:
Daniel, born April 22, 1702.
Isaac, Feb. 25, 1704-05.
John.
Jeremiah, mentioned below.
It is said that Daniel Lawrence had two wives and twenty-two children.
He removed from Groton to Plainfield, Conn., about 1707, and settled in what became the town of Killingly.

(XX) Jeremiah, son of Daniel Lawrence, settled in Canaan, Conn. He married (first) Olive Wheeler; (second) Betsey Smith; (third) Widow Higby; he died in Canaan in what was known as the Robert Baker house.
Children:
David, Jonathan (mentioned below), Nehemiah.
Children of second wife:
Jabez, removed to Rhode Island.
Children of third wife:
Putnam and William.

(XXI) Jonathan (2), son of Jonathan (1) Lawrence [transcriber's note: I should think his father's name would be Jeremiah ??], was born about 1731. He was in the revolution, in Captain Thomas Hobby's company, Colonel Benjamin Hinman's regiment, from May 11 to Nov. 8, 1775; also corporal in Captain James Green's company, in New York, in 1776, under General Wooster.
He married Betsey Green, of Canaan, who died Aug. 10, 1808, aged seventy-two years. He died in Canaan, Sept. 16, 1809, aged seventy-eight.
Children:
Asa.
Betsey, married Roger Rood.
Jonathan, born Feb. 20, 1761, mentioned below.
Lydia, married Zilla Stickney.
Jeremiah, born March 16, 1768.
Ruluff, about 1770.
Zimro, Sept. 10, 1772.
Joseph, May, 1733(?).
Benjamin, May 6, 1774.

(XXII) Jonathan (3), son of Jonathan (2) Lawrence, was born Feb. 20, 1761, and died Feb. 5, 1851, aged nearly ninety years. About 1804 he removed from Weybridge, Vermont, to Moira, New York, where he was a pioneer settler. He acquired, by hard work and great resolution, a handsome property.
He married, April 26, 1790, Lucy Clark, born in Canaan, Conn., Dec. 15, 1771, died 1812. He married (second) Lydia ____, who died Oct. 8, 1836, aged sixty years.
Children:
1. Abram, born Aug. 21, 1791.
2. Oren, July 4, 1793, mentioned below.
3. Clark, Aug. 10, 1795.
4. Amanda, April 9, 1797; died April 10, 1810.
5. Abigail, May 6, 1799; died May 11, 1837.
6. Sidney (q.v.), Dec. 31, 1801.
7. Robert Fowler, June 9, 1804; died April 7, 1810.
8. Maria (twin with Robert F.), died 1805.
9. Maria, born April 7, 1806; died Feb. 27, 1839.
10. Robert Fowler, born Aug. 9, 1810.

(XXIII) Oren, son of Jonathan (3) Lawrence, was born in Weybridge, Vermont, July 4, 1793, and died April 8, 1867. He was a successful merchant in Moira, N.Y.
He married, Jan. 20, 1820, Sally Barnum.
Children:
Darius Watts, born Feb. 19, 1822, mentioned below.
Sarah Ann, born Jan. 30, 1828, died Jan. 19, 1847.

(XXIV) Darius Watts, son of Oren Lawrence, was born Feb. 19, 1822, at Moira, New York. He was educated in the public schools of Malone and Potsdam. In 1838 he began work as clerk in a general store which he and his father bought in 1843. He conducted this store until 1867, when he removed to Malone and engaged in the banking business. He has been a director of the Farmers' National Bank since 1864, and has held the offices of cashier, vice-president and president, respectively. He was for many years active in political affairs, and was town clerk and supervisor of the town of Moira, superintendent of schools, and in 1851-52 represented his district in the assembly.
In politics he was a Democrat.
He married, Dec. 25, 1851, Lois W., daughter of Simon Stevens.
Children:
1. Sarah L., born Jan. 14, 1853; married John M. Spann.
2. Jennie C., born May 21, 1855; married W. H. King.
3. Edward W., born June 7, 1857; married Mary Webster.
4. Orrin S., mentioned below.

(XXV) Orrin S., son of Darius Watts Lawrence, was born in Moira, N.Y., April 26, 1860. He was educated in the public and high schools of Malone, and at Dr. Holbrook's school at Ossining, N.Y., where he graduated in 1877. He then entered the Farmers' National Bank of Malone as clerk in 1877. In 1897 he was chosen cashier, and held that office until 1903, when he resigned to engage in the flour and feed business. He is one of the most successful and substantial merchants of the city. He has been prominent also in public life, and held many offices of trust and responsibility. He served several terms as trustee of the incorporated village of Malone, and was supervisor of the town for a number of years.
Since 1903 he has been county treasurer.
In politics he is a Republican.
He is a member of Northern Constellation Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; of Franklin Commandery, Knights Templar; of Karnak Temple, Mystic Shrine of Montreal; of neshoba Lodge of Odd Fellows; of the Maccabees; and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of Plattsburgh.
He married, October, 1886, Sadie A. Willard, born in Malone, daughter of Sylvester S. Willard, of Malone.
Children:
D. Watts, born Feb. 28, 1889, a student at Yale College, class of 1912.
Louis W., born May 29, 1892.

THIRD ENTRY:

(XXIII) Sidney Lawrence, son of Jonathan (XXII, q.v.) Lawrence, was born at Weybridge, Vermont, Dec. 31, 1801, and died at Moira, N.Y. May 9, 1892. He came to Moira with his parents when he was an infant and was educated in the public schools of that section. He studied law and was admitted to the bar. Soon after he came of age he was elected justice of the peace; he was also surrogate of Franklin county for a number of years, county judge twelve years, and was elected justice of the supreme court.
In politics he was a Democrat. He served his district in the state assembly and was state senator in 1843. He was a member of the Thirtieth congress of the United States. Abraham Lincoln was a congressman at the same time.
Judge Lawrence married (first) Aug. 8, 1832, Mary Fuller, born at New Haven, Vermont, Sept. 27, 1809, died Jan. 26, 1855. He married (second), in 1856, Frances Merab Atwater, born at Russell, N.Y., Nov. 28, 1820 died at Moira, Oct. 13, 1888, daughter of William and Delia (Wetmore) Atwater (see Atwater).
Children of first wife:
1. William S., born Aug. 9, 1839, died in infancy.
2. Mary Jane, May 9, 1841; died Mach 25, 1843.
Children of second wife:
Children of second wife:
3. Mary Frances, Dec. 28, 1856; married John H. King, merchant of Malone.
4. Carrie M., Dec. 14, 1858; married Rev. Charles J. Levengood, of Wayne, Pennsylvania, a Presbyterian clergyman; children: Lawrence and Madline.
5. William Sidney, mentioned below.

(XXIV) William Sidney, son of Sidney Lawrence, was born at Moira, April 4, 1863. He was educated there in the public schools and at a preparatory school at Burlington, Vermont. From 1883 to 1892 he was general agent of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company at Moira. He resigned at the time of his father's death to take charge of the estate. In the spring of 1893 he opened a hardware store at Moira and continued in that business until 1904. Since then he has been in the lumber business. He owns a saw mill at Moira. He still retains the homestead on which his grandfather settled and has other farming interests. He is a director of the Farmers' Bank in Malone, filling this office since 1894.
In politics he is a Democrat and was for a number of years a member of the Democratic town and county committees. He has been a delegate to various state and other nominating conventions of his party. He was a delegate to the state conventions at which Governors Hll and Flower were nominated.
He is a member of North Star Lodge, No. 107, Free and Accepted Masons, of Brushton; of Northern Constellation Chapter, No. 28, Royal Arch Maons, Malone, N.Y.; of Franklin Commandery, No. 60, Knights Templar. He is grand master of the Lodge of Perfection, Scottish Rite Masons; member of Central City Consistory of Syracuse and of Media Temple, Mystic Shrine, of Watertown, a thirty-second degree Mason. He is also a member of Sidney Lawrence Lodge, No. 600, Odd Fellows, of Moira, named in honor of his father.
He is an Episcopalian and has been warden of the church at Moira for a number of years.
He married, in 1886, Helen Quinnellie Austin, born at Exeter, England, daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann (Parsons) Austin.
They have no children, but have adopted a daughter, Helena Quinnellie.

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