This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: rwhitzman1 Surnames: LAWRENCE, Clapp, Strader, Haynes, Barnhart, Sprinkle, Worthington, Stiles, Boatright Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.illinois.counties.union/155.2.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: My 3rd great grandfather was George Lawrence, son of Adam Lawrence Sr. He was born ca 1872 in Guilford Co., NC and died in Washington Co., AR in 1852. I have researched the Lawrence family for about 25 years. I can give you my best educated guess about Claiborne Lawrence. Adam Lawrence, Sr. moved his extended family from Guilford Co., NC to Sumner Co., TN by 1788. Adam Lawrence, Sr. died in 1800 in Henderson Co., KY. He left a will naming the following children: John (m. Polly Haines), David, Adam, William (m. Esther Worthington), George, Joseph, Patience (m. John Barnhart, Ezekiel Smith), Ruth Clapp (m. Adam Clapp), Nancy Strader (m. Conrad Strader), Mary "Polly" Haynes (m.. William Haines) and Susannah Sprinkle (m. John Michael Sprinkle). The extended Lawrence family owned land in Sumner, Davidson and Robertson Co., Tennessee from ca 1788 - 1810 or so, as well as Henderson, Muhlenberg, Logan and Warren Counties in Kentucky. By 1807 several members of the family made their way to southeastern Illinois, which was part of Indiana Territory at that time. The land was not yet available for settlement, and a number of settlers applied to the federal government for permission to reside in the territory and preemption rights to obtain the land they had settled and improved at a reduced cost. Among those applicants were Joseph, William, George and Adam Lawrence, as well as their in-laws, Adam Clapp, John Barnhart and the Worthingtons. Only two applications were not approved, those of Joseph and Adam Lawrence, who did not take possession of the land until after 1807. I have not been able to locate Adam or Joseph between 1807 and 1815 (in Joseph's case - until 1850). Joseph Lawrence was the father of Adam Lawrence III, who escaped the Pawnee attack and settled in Austin's Colony and then in Williamson Co., Texas, where his father Joseph Lawrence joined him later in life and is buried near him at Lawrence Chapel. According to family tradition, Joseph Lawrence's first wife died and he remarried. His son Adam (III) did not like his stepmother. He left home to join his uncle Adam (Jr.) in Arkansas Territory. According to the Chronicles of Oklahoma articles about Miller County, Adam Lawrence (Jr.) was in Arkansas Territory before 1815, and living along Mulberry Creek in what is now Franklin County, Arkansas. Also living there was the Stiles family. Stiles family tradition states that William Stiles Jr. married Nancy Lawrence, daughter of Adam. By 1815, Adam Lawrence was listed on a tax list for Lawrence County in what became Arkansas Territory. Later property records indicate that in 1815 he obtained land along the Red River in an area that became Miller County, Arkansas Territory. From Six Months from Tennessee, by Skipper Steely, pg. 66, 156: "Originally this land claimed by [Adam] Lawrence was called "Mound Prairie" Improvement. Genealogy of this land is proven in a Bill of Sale, April 5, 1830, when J. J. Ward sold his title to B. Sam Worthington." Adam Lawrence appeared on the 1820 Arkansaas tax list for Hempstead County, which was the parent of Miller County. In 1821, he appears on the list for the newly created Miller County, Arkansas Territory, which was signed by a number of residents of Hempstead and Miller County. Among them were Thomas Boatright (Sec. 4), David Clapp (Sec. 4), Adam Lawrence (Sec. 4), Samuel R. Miller (Sec. 3), Simon Miller (Sec. 3), Richard Stiles (Sec. 4), John Styles (Sec. 5), Wm Stiles Sr. and Jr. (Sec. 5), Claibourn Wright (Sec. 4), Henry Wyett (Section 5), James Wyett (Sec. 5). An 1825 petition by the citizens of Miller County included David Clapp, Adam Laurance, Adam Laurence Junr., David Lawrence, George Lawrence, two James Lawrences and John Lawrence, as well as Mitchel Crownover and William Stiles. Following 23 May 1826, a series of articles and letters appeared in the Little Rock Gazette concerning the deaths of Adam Lawrence, his son John Lawrence and his nephew Henry Lawrence, son of George. On or about April 17, 1826, the Lawrences were with a group of men from Miller County catching mustangs on the Foe-Washita River when they were attacked by a large party of Pawnee Indians. Adam Lawrence, Jr., who managed to escape during the attack. This Adam Jr. was the son of Joseph Lawrence, brother of Adam and George Lawrence. In 1828, an Administration Notice appeared in the Arkansas Gazette (3:5), on 9 April 1828. "The undersigned having obtained from the Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas Territory, Letters of Administration on the estate of Adam Lawrence, late of said county, deceased, hereby gives notice to all persons having demands against said estate, to present them, duly authenticated according to law, within one year from the date of said Letters, or they may be precluded from deriving any benefit from said estate; and if said demands be not presented as foresaid, within five years, they will be forever barred. All persons indebted to said estate are requested to make immediate payment. Polly Lawrence, Adm'x of Adam Lawrence, dec'd." In 1828, much of Miller County was ceded to under the Choctaw Treaty of 1825, and residents of Miller County were asked to relocate. Donation Grants were offered to Miller County residents who were willing to resettle elsewhere in Arkansas, to reimburse their property loss in Miller County. Among those from Miller County who applied for donation grants were: Collin Aldrich, Elizabeth Lawrence Crownover Aldrich, James B. Anderson, James Anderson, David Lawrence, Polly Lawrence, George Lawrence, and Susannah Lawrence (late Susannah Anderson). Adam Lawrence's widow, Mary (Polly) Lawrence, remained in Miller County until 1830 and then moved to Washington County, Texas. She (age 40-50) appeared on the 1830 Census for Miller County with one male 10-15, one female under 5, three females 5-10, two females 10-15 and one female 1-20. A Mary Young, widow of Adam Lawrence, registered in Austin's Colony in 1832, after living there for 13 months. She had one male and seven female children. In 1836, Polly Laurence purchased property on New Year's Creek, near Adam Lawrence and David Lawrence. 1836: Wash. Co. Deed Rec. A1, Pg. 42/Deed, 1 Feb 1836/Polly Laurence to James Walker, tract on New Year's Creek, part of Lea granted Saml R. Miller by Mexican nation, being 164 acres. $200. Instru wit: Lewis Clemons, William G. Hall. Assist wit: N.A. McFadin, Benj Babbit. 1 In his book, Six Months from Tennessee, Adam Lawrence was discussed by Skipper Steely. His later manuscript, The Forty Seven Years, was donated by Mr. Steely to Texas State University in Commerce, Texas, and is available for review in the Library's Special Archives. The manuscript contained the following information: P. 64: Adam Lawrence is most time given credit for being the first settler in the Pecan Point - Clear Creek - Jonesboro region. While he may not have lived there permanently as early as 1815, for sure he was claiming title to property at that time. One old Miller County record reveals he was first to "own" the land directly south of the Kiamichi River mouth, what today is called the Wright Kiomatia Plantation. (19) Family tradition lists the children of Adam Lawrence, Jr. as John (killed the same day as his father), Nancy (who married William Stiles, Jr.) and Elizabeth (who married Mitchell Crownover and Colin Aldrich). George Lawrence's will filed in Washington Co., Arkansas, in 1852 listed his children as Sarah Ann Woodruff, Samuel Lawrence, John Lawrence, his deceased son James Lawrence, "Sally Wyatt, Elizabeth and Nancy Styles." After years of correspondence with Stiles researchers and research, I have yet to find two Nancy Stiles. I believe the Nancy who married William Stiles was likely the daughter of George. It could well be that the Elizabeth who married Crownover and Aldrich in Miller County was George's daughter as well. Adam Lawrence (Jr.) was a more colorful and well known character than his brother George, so the identification would be natural. Another colorful and well-known character in the early Miller County days was Clairborne Wright. Among the first settlers of the area, he would have been well acquainted by the Lawrence family. Other members of the Lawrence family who were early settlers included David and Elizabeth Lawrence Clapp. David was a son of Adam Clapp, Sr., who married the daughter of his step-uncle William. Since Claiborne Lawrence was born in Illinois in 1811 or so, as was George's son Samuel, who was a member of Austin's Colony and later settled in Burleson Co., Texas, I believe he is most likely part of this family. I believe there is a good chance that he was a son of Adam Lawrence, Jr. I believe other likely children include David Lawrence, who registered in Austin's Colony with his wife Jeney (Jane Boatright) on the same day as Adam Lawrence (III). David died in Washington Co., in 1838; his widow married Edward H. Horton in Galveston in 1844. She is listed with Lawrence children: Adam (b. 1829), Elijah (b. 1832), and Benjamin (b. 1837). A Dicey Lawrence (b. ca 1816) married Levi Boatwright, a son of Lewis Boatright and Sally Sparks. A Nancy Lawrence (b. ca 1817) married William Boatright, also a son of Lewis Boatright and Sally Sparks. The oldest son of Nancy Lawrence Boatwright was named Claiborne (b. 1841). In 1870, an Adam Lawrence (b. ca 1829) appears in Williamson/Burleson Co., as does Benjamin H. Lawrence (b. 1837). They live near Adam Lawrence (III) and Samuel Lawrence, son of George. They match with the children of Jane Boatright Lawrence, widow of David above. I am looking at the migration of the Boatright, Stiles, and Sparks families in to the area to see if I can find where they intersect with either Joseph Lawrence or Adam Lawrence, Jr. Other Lawrences most likely connected to the family include a Mrs. Edith (Edie) Lawrence, who married Pratt Collins on 24 may 8311831 in Pulaski County. Pratt Collins died on 7 Sept. 1833 in Pulaski County. At some point, Mrs. Edith Collins moved to Washington County, where she lived with George Lawrence sometime after 1840, where she is listed on census and legal documents variously as Edith Collins and Edith Lawrence. The 1850 census entry indicates she was born around 1780 in North Carolina. I have not been able to figure out who she had been married to. She might possibly have been the first wife of Joseph Lawrence, although family tradition has that that wife died. A Peter Lawrence was an early resident of Arkansas Territory in 1815. There is evidence of the relationship between Adam Lawrence Sr. and a William and Peter Lawrence back in Guilford County. George's brother David Lawrence could have been born as early as 1783. I have not been able to trace him past 1820 in Henderson County, Kentucky. The signature of David Lawrence appeared on an 1825 petition in Miller County. I do not know if this was George's brother or a nephew. And Mrs. Edie Lawrence could have been his widow. In any event, there were a few young Lawrence men in Washington Co., Arkansas, who I have not been able to place, and have thought they might have been Edith's children. There was a Joseph Lawrence, who was born in Illinois, between 1810 and 1820. He died and his widow Nancy was listed on the 1850 census with children Joseph (b. 1832/IL), Martha (b. 1836/AR), There was another James Lawrence there in 1830 and 1840, after the death of George's son James. Other Lawrences in Williamson/Burleson Counties, Texas included Phillip Lawrence (b. ca 1820/Illinois and died in 1890 in Lawrence Chapel, Williamson Co., TX. A George Lawrence, born in 1832 in Illinoiis, married Hannah A. Grandle in Williamson County in 1860. According to family tradition, Adam Lawrence (III) had three half-brothers that moved to Texas, Phillip, George and Joseph. Hope I haven't been too confusing. Anyway, I believe that Claiborne Lawrence is connected to the family of Adam Lawrence, Sr. who died in Henderson Co., KY in 1800. I believe it is most likely that he is a son of Adam Lawrence, Jr., although it is possible he was a son of Joseph. Happy to share other information. Warm regards, Rebecca Hitzman rwhitzman@aol.com Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.