John L. Lawrence

John L. Lawrence (October 2, 1785 New York City – July 24, 1849 New York City) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician from New York.

Life

He was the son of State Senator Jonathan Lawrence (1737–1812) and Ruth (Riker) Lawrence (1746–1818). He graduated from Columbia College in 1803.

From June 7, 1814, to May 19, 1815, he was Chargé d'Affaires at Stockholm, representing the United States during the absence of Minister to Sweden Jonathan Russell.

On June 2, 1816, he married Sarah Augusta Smith (1794–1877), daughter of U.S. Senator John Smith (1752–1816), and they had eleven children.

He was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co.) in 1816–17. He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821.

He was a presidential elector in 1840, voting for William Henry Harrison and John Tyler.

He was a member of the New York State Senate (4th D.) in 1848 and 1849. In May 1849, he was appointed New York City Comptroller, but two months later he died of cholera.

Congressmen Samuel Lawrence (1773–1837) and William T. Lawrence (1788–1859) were his brothers.

Sources

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 57, 136, 142, 192, 287 and 329; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
• Americans of Royal Descent (7th ed., 1911; reprinted 2000; pg. 215)
• American State Papers (1859; pg. 554ff)
• Death notice in The American Quarterly Register and Magazine (pg. 237f) [gives death date July 23]
• Historical Genealogy of the Lawrence Family by Thomas Lawrence (1858; pg. 113)
• Proceedings of the Board of Assistant Aldermen (1849; pg. 324f)