John Lawrence (1709 - 1794)

Born 28 Jan 1709 in Middletown, Monmouth County, Province of New Jersey

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Willet (Hartshorne) Lawrence — married 2 Nov 1738 in Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey

Descendants

Died 19 Jun 1794 at age 85 in Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey

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Biography

January 28, 1709 -- John Lawrence was born at Middletown, Monmouth County, Province of New Jersey. ^[1]

He was a son of Elisha Lawrence and Lucy Stout. ^{[2] [3]}

A 1731 assessment roll of Upper Freehold township shows it was one of the four original townships, the collector being John Lawrence. For many years John Lawrence was the township assessor.

November 2, 1738 -- John Lawrence and Mary Hartshorne married at Middletown, Monmouth County, Province of New Jersey. ^[4] Mary Willet Hartshorne was the daughter of William and Helena Hartshorne.

Children of John and Mary Lawrence:

• Helena Lawrence b. 9-16-1739; d. ?; m. John Holmes of New York; dau. Helena Lawrence Holmes d. 1-28-1852
• Elisha Lawrence b.11-22-1740; Loyalist in Rev. War; d. at age 73 in England; m. Mary Ashfield d/o Lewis Ashfield, Esq.: two daughters d/y
• Lucia Lawrence b. 7-27-1744; d. 4-11-1821 in Trenton; m. Rev. Henry Waddell D.D.
• Mary Lawrence b. 1752; d. 1-4-1816; buried in the Yellow Meeting House Yard in Monmouth County, N.J.
• John Lawrence, M.D. b. 1-27-1747; d. 4-29-1830
• Elizabeth Lawrence LeConte b. 2-19-1750; d. 8-31-1831; m. William LeConte, Esq. of Georgia
• Sarah Lawrence b. 5-25-1756; d. 7-7-1821: buried in the Yellow Meeting House Yard.

1743 -- John Lawrence was the surveyor-general who created the line since known as the "Lawrence Line," between the Provinces of East and West Jersey. John Lawrence, the son of the first Elisha was a noted surveyor who ran the line between East and West Jersey in 1743 to correct the line Keith had ran in 1687. The Keith line crossed the Monmouth Road at Prospertown and included Allentown, Imlaystown, and Hightstown in West Jersey. There was always trouble with the proprietors of the two about this

Revolutionary War -- The Lawrences were Whigs (patriots) and Tories (Royalists loyal to King George III). Families were often divided or flip-flopped between sides. The John Lawrence side were Tories.

1776 -- John Lawrence was 67 years old at the time of the meeting in Imlaystown where he was chairman and it was resolved "that it is our first wish to live in unison with Great Britain but we are determined to oppose Great Britain to raise revenue in America and risk any consequence rather than to submit to it." It was also resolved to raise money to purchase the quantity of powder and ball that may be necessary, and that all able bodied men capable of bearing arms are to start training and not to waste powder by fowling and hunting.

Although John Lawrence did not bear arms because of his advanced age, he protected Tories and induced others to swear allegiance to King George III.

The Whigs kept him prisoner for 9 months at Burlington. Thomas Farr was one of the witnesses against him before the Council of Safety.

John is buried in the Yellow Meeting House Church yard in Red Valley near Cream Ridge, New Jersey.

Sources

• S899. Herald F. Stout. Stout and Allied Families. San Diego, California. 1986. Repository R6. Monmouth County Historical Association. 70 Court St. Freehold, NJ 07728.

• S904. William Nelson. New Jersey Biographical and Genealogical Notes. New Jersey Archives. Newark. 1916.

• S973. Edward O. Jenkins. Historical Genealogy of the Lawrence Family. New York. 1858. Repository R3. www.ancestry.com.

• John Edwin Stillwell. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: Burial Ground Records, vol 2, p 331.

• Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania: Bible Records, March 1919, Vol. VII, No. 2, p 129. Contributed by Mrs. James de Waele Cookman.

Footnotes

1. ↑ S904. Pages 156 - 159.
2. ↑ S899. Page 7.
3. ↑ S973. Page 70.
4. ↑ S904. Pages 156 - 159.

Acknowledgements

WikiTree profile Lawrence-2429 created through the import of WORCESTER_2012-07-31.ged on July 31, 2012 by Bob Worcester. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Bob and others.