Husband Hon. Joseph Lawrence 1 2 3 4 5
Born: 1788 - Adams Co, PA 6
Christened:
Died: 7 Apr or 17 Apr 1842 - Washington, D. C. 1 2 3
Buried: - Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D. C. 2
Father: John Lawrence ( -Abt 1789) 1 6
Mother: Sarah Moffitt ( - ) 1 6
Marriage: 1812 or 1813 7
Other Spouse: Maria Bucher (1802-1861) 1 7 8 - 4 Sep 1823 6
Wife Rebecca Van Eman 1 3 4 5 9
Born: 7 Dec 1787 10
Christened:
Died: 4 Jan 1822 10
Buried:
Father: George Van Eman (1753- ) 5 11 12
Mother: Rebecca Scott (1756- ) 5 9 13
Children
1 M Joseph Lawrence 1 2
Born:
Christened:
Died: Feb 1842 1 10
Buried:
Spouse: Eliza Horner ( -1842) 2
2 M Hon. George Van Eman Lawrence 1 4 14 15
Born: 13 Nov 1818 - Washington Co, PA 1 16
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Elizabeth Welsh (1820-1855) 1 4 16
Marr: 26 Dec 1839 4
Spouse: Mary Reed (1830-Aft 1893) 4 15
Marr: 1857 17
3 F Sarah Lawrence 1 2
Born:
Christened:
Died: Aft 1893
Buried:
Spouse: Ard. Moore ( -Abt 1866) 2
4 M Samuel Lawrence 1 2
Born:
Christened:
Died: when five or six years old
Buried:
Spouse: Did Not Marry
General Notes: Husband - Hon. Joseph Lawrence
He was born in Adams County, Pennsylvania, and when three years of age was carried on horseback on his mother's knee to Washington County, where he was reared and spent his life. He was eminently a self-made man, having never attended school but three months, it being necessary for him in early life to support himself, and to assist in supporting his mother and sisters, by manual labor. He was a good reader and thinker, a careful student of men and passing events, and eagerly seized upon every opportunity for improving himself. He became a member of a debating society, in which he was associated with Hons. Jonathan Knight, John Sloan, Drs. Joseph and Jonathan Lethermain, Rev. Abner Leonard, William Walsh, Esq., and others, and he always regarded the training of that organization of the greatest value to him. His first prominence was in connection with the Pigeon Creek Presbyterian Church, of which he was a member. He was appointed by the session of that church to prosecute the Rev. Andrew Gwynn, the pastor. This he did before the Session, Presbytery, the Synod, and the General Assembly. He managed the case in a manner which won for him the admiration, and secured to him the friendship, of many of the clergy of that denomination. When a young man he was elected major, by which title he was long known, in the State militia, which position he held for a time. In 1818 he was elected to the State Legislature, and served continuously until 1826, being Speaker of the House during the sessions of 1820 and 1822. In 1826 he was elected to Congress, and was defeated for the same office in 1828. In 1834 he was elected to the State Legislature; re-elected in 1835, and in 1836 was elected State treasurer by the Legislature. In 1838 he was a candidate for Congress, and was defeated by seventeen votes by the Hon. Isaac Leet, whom he in turn defeated in 1840. He died of typhoid fever in Washington, D. C., and his remains were interred in the congressional burial-ground. He was a man of unusual public spirit, popular manners, happy temperament, and a forcible and logical speaker.
He remained on the farm with his mother, to whom he was much attached, and to whom he clung with strongest affection until she died at the age of ninety-five years. He was compelled to work hard on the farm to maintain the family, and only obtained a few months for improvement at school. He was elected to the legislature from Washington County in 1820, and served until 1826, being speaker of the House two sessions; was elected to Congress in 1826. He was for J. Q. Adams for President, but the tide for Jackson swept him down in 1828. In 1834 he was nominated for the Legislature and elected, and re-elected in 1835; was elected State treasurer in 1836. He ran for Congress in 1838, and was defeated by seventeen votes. In 1840 he was again the candidate of the Whig party and elected. He died while in office and his body lies in the Congressional Cemetery, at Washington, D. C. He was a man of fine physical and mental abilities; was a good public speaker, logical and clear in argument with an unusual memory and a very pleasant manner, and he had the respect and confidence of all who knew him. Like his mother, and all his extensive family, he was a Presbyterian, and when at home in the county generally walked three and one-half miles to church, and sat in the Bible-class, his sons going with him to Sunday-school. He was firm in the Pauline and Augustinian faith, and a student of theology. His house was always open, and a kind of home for ministers who were fond of his company.
He was elected representative in 1818, '19, '20, '21, '22, '23, again in 1834, '35, State Treasurer 1835, member of Congress in 1824 and '26, and in 1840.