John Lawson (abt. 1733 - bef. 1803)

Born about 1733 in Bedford County, Virginia [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Bryant) Lawson — married 1755 in Stokes County, North Carolina

Descendants

Died before 15 Oct 1803 before about age 70 in Stokes County, North Carolina

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Michelle Burress [send private message]

Biography

John Lawson is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A053229.

John "Black Eye" Lawson, of the "Falling River Lawsons," is said to have been born about 1733 in that part of Brunswick County, Virginia that would become Lunenburg County in 1746 and Bedford County in 1753. He is also said to have married about 1755 to Margaret ____ (some say Bryant) in that part of Surry County, North Carolina that would become Stokes County in 1789. ^[1]

Note: John's wife's maiden name is contested by some researchers who show that "Bryant" was the maiden name of John "Goober Pea" Lawson's wife, not this John "Black Eye" Lawson. ^[2]

The identities of this John Lawson's parents are uncertain. He is identified here and in FamilySearch.org, without source, as the son of David Lawson and Ann Harvey, ^[3] but the Lawson DNA Project indicates that he may have been John, Jr., son of John Lawson, son of William Lawson of Falling River. ^{[4] [5]}

DAR ancestor records credit this John Lawson with patriotic service in Surry County, and indicate that he was born before 1757, and died before 15 Oct 1803 in Stokes County, North Carolina. The ancestor database contains only one of John's children: Thomas who married Celia Hall. ^[6]

From John Lawson's estate settlement, held 15 Oct 1803, we know his surviving children to have been: ^[7]:

1. Elizabeth, b. 1758, m. Randall Hall
2. Patmon, b. 1760
3. Letty, b. 1763
4. Clemont, b. 1766
5. John, b. 1770
6. Thomas, b. 1773, d. 31 Dec 1837

His moniker "Black Eye" originated in Bedford County records and followed him to Surry County, North Carolina where he was the eldest of three different John Lawsons residing there between 1772-1803. He is mentioned by his moniker "Black Eye" or "B.E." in the following records:

• Bedford County: ^[8]
  • 1763 Tithes, John Lawson B.E., 1 tithe ^[9]
• Surry County: ^[10]
  • 05 Oct 1778 land grant #813 (reentered for Stokes County as #1071 on 18 May 1789) to John Lawson (not recorded as 'Black Eye' but identified as him based on subsequent entries) for 200 acres on both sides of Little Peters Creek.
  • 1783 tax list, Capt. Gain's District: Lawson, John B.E.; 100 acres, 2 horses or mules, 3 cattle, value of land £15, value of stock £10.
  • 1786 tax list, Capt. Gain's District: Losson, John B.E.; 200 acres, 1 white poll
  • 1789 tax list, Capt. Gain's District: Lawson, John B.E.; 200 acres
• Stokes County: ^[11]
  • 1790 tax list, Capt. Gain's District: Lawson, John B.E.; 200 acres
  • 1792 tax list, Capt. Cloud's District: Lawson, John (Black Eye); 200 acres
  • 1797 tax list, Capt. Cloud's District: Lawson, John (Black Eye); 200 acres
  • 1799 tax list, Capt. Cloud's District: Lawson, John (Black Eye); 200 acres, 1 white poll
  • 15 Oct 1803 Deed Book 5, pg. 160: John (Black Eye) Lawson's children Thomas, John, Letty, Clem, Patmon, and (Elizabeth's husband) Randall Hall sold to Thomas Gains 200 acres of land on Little Peters Creek.

Surry County county records showed two John Lawsons who settled there after it was formed from Rowan County in 1771; and by the first US census of 1790, there were three John Lawsons enumerated in the newly formed Stokes County:

1. with one female and two males <16 ^[12]
2. with one female and three males <16 ^[13]
3. with four females and one male <16 ^[14]

One is probably this John Lawson, one is probably his contemporary John "Goober Pea" Lawson, and the third is probably the son of one of the two elder Johns, since they each had a son named John.

Research Notes

The Falling River Lawsons

The Falling River rises in the northwest corner of the town of Appomattox, Virginia, flows southwest through Appomattox County and Campbell County, and empties into the Roanoke River southeast of the town of Brookneal, Virginia.

For more information on the "Falling River Lawsons" who resided in Lunenburg County (formed in 1746 from Brunswick County); Bedford County (formed in 1753 from Lunenburg County); and Campbell County (formed in 1782 from Bedford County) see:

• Falling River Lawsons: William Lawson's Family, Lawson Surname DNA Project, by Carl L. Lawson, accessed on 07 Oct 2023.
  • William Lawson's Family Timeline, Lawson Surname DNA Project, by Carl L. Lawson, accessed on 07 Oct 2023.
  • Falling River Lawson Generations, by Phyllis Russell Franklin, 12 Nov 2017, accessed on 07 Oct 2023.
• The Falling River Lawsons, Windows Into Our Past, Vol. 7, by Judy ____, 05 Aug 2008, accessed on 07 Oct 2023.
• The Lawsons of the American Southern Hill Country, by theamericanplutarch, 11 Jul 2021, accessed on 07 Oct 2023.
• Lawson Genealogy: The Falling River Lawsons, by Velma Ann Rogers Tower, 1987, accessed on 07 Oct 2023.

Sources

1. ↑ Burress & Palmer Genealogy, Southwest Virginia & Stokes County, North Carolina entry for John Isham Lawson (1733-1803), by Michelle Burress, ©2023, accessed 08 Oct 2023.
2. ↑ FamilySearch.org profile note for John "Black Eye" Lawson (1735-1803), by Elaine T. Cook, 17 Apr 2023, accessed on 08 Oct 2023.
3. ↑ FamilySearch.org profile for John "Black Eye" Lawson (1735-1803),
4. ↑ Lawson Surname DNA Project: Lunenburg County, Virginia records, by Carl L. Lawson, accessed on 09 Oct 2023.
5. ↑ Lawson Surname DNA Project: Y-DNA Results, by Carl L. Lawson, accessed on 08 Oct 2023.
6. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/), "Record of John Lawson", Ancestor # A053229.
7. ↑ Rootsweb: LAWSON-L Archives, Lawson Family of North Carolina and Virginia, by John (jpmart1), 26 Feb 2011
8. ↑ Lawson DNA Project: Bedford County, Virginia, by Carl L. Lawson, accessed on 08 Oct 2023.
9. ↑ Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. XXIII, Number 3, 01 Aug 1985, pg. 73.
10. ↑ Lawson DNA Project: Surry County, North Carolina, by Carl L. Lawson, accessed on 08 Oct 2023.
11. ↑ Lawson DNA Project: Stokes County, North Carolina, by Carl L. Lawson, accessed on 08 Oct 2023.
12. ↑ "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHK1-ZPN : accessed 12 May 2017), John Lawson, Stokes, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 540, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 7; FHL microfilm 568,147.
13. ↑ "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHK1-Z5F : accessed 12 May 2017), John Lawson, Stokes, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 540, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 7; FHL microfilm 568,147.
14. ↑ "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHK1-ZBS : accessed 12 May 2017), John Lawson, Stokes, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 541, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 7; FHL microfilm 568,147.