I am looking for the ancestry of Thomas LAWRENCE living NYC married 19 Sep 1799 Trinity church NYC Eleanor/Neeltje Earle bp 11 Apr 1753 Southampton LI NY will 1829 d/o Edward Earle & Penelope/Melletje Elsworth of NJ. 5 children b NYC 1. Thomas Lawrence b 7 May 1781 bp Trinity Parish NYC, dy 2. Hannah B Laurence b 12 May 1783 NYC bp 1 Jun 1783 Trinity Parish NYC m 30 Apr 1803 Jacob Blackw2ell in Trinity church NYC 3. Thomas Lawrence b 11 Apr 1784 bp 11 May 1785 Trinity parish NYC d 3 Nov 1848 m 21 Jul 1812 Margaret Ireland in Trinity parish church NYC; 9 childfen b NYC 4. Maria Lawrence b 5 Feb 1787 NYC bp 25 Mar 1787 Trinity parish church NYC d 16 Aug 1871 m 23 Aug 1805 Thomas H Vail in Trinity parish NYC. Thomas Vail d 11 Sep 1811 ST Marys VA age 32 a merchant, obituary in NY Post. Thomas Laurence was living NYC in or near Trinity parish between 1779-1787. This was during the English occupation of NYC during the Revolutionary War and shortly there after. No hint as to his ancestry or when or where born. He was in partnership with John F Lawrence in NYC. James H Blackwell of Yonkers,Westchester co NY was the executor of the estate of Eleanor Earle Laurence. He was the s/o Jacob Blackwell & hannah Laurence, grandson of Thomas Lawrence & Eleanor Earle. He could be related to the Loyalist colonel Lawrence of Staten Island who married an Earle, a cousin of Eleanor Earle. If you have any infor or ideas, please let me know Richard Clark rgclark@bellsouth.net