Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan - Person Sheet
Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan - Person Sheet
BirthMar 1876, Vallejo, Solano, California36, p 3, line 127; place only,1967, p 2; date only
Residenceof Oakland2018
FlagsBrick Wall
FatherThomas R. MARTIN (~1842-1893)
MotherEmily Arzella CLARK (1850-1936)
Individual Notes
• Name given as Annie Mabel Martin.23, p G27
• Suits for divorce filed yesterday…Mabel Anne Lawrence against Willis Lawrence, for desertion.2019
• Suits for divorce filed yesterday…Mabel Anne Lawrence against Willis Lawrence, for desertion.2019
Census
• 1880 Census: Terrace, Box Elder, Utah. Age 4, b CA.1964
• 1900 Census: San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Age 24, b CA. Father b Scotland; mother b IL. Married 5 years; mother of one living child.1967, p 2
• 1900 Census: San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Age 24, b CA. Father b Scotland; mother b IL. Married 5 years; mother of one living child.1967, p 2
Census
• 1900 Census: San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Age 24, b CA. Father b Scotland; mother b IL. Married 5 years. Mother of one living child.1967
Spouses
Birth6 Apr 1856, Wisconsin1967, b VT,1991, date only,1992
BurialMaple Park Cemetery, Springfield, Greene, Missouri1991
OccupationCivil Engineer1967
EducationHarvard University23, p G27
FatherGeorge LAWRENCE (1826-1899)
MotherSarah Caroline VINCENT (1831-1927)
Individual Notes
• Source 3211 proves the relationship between the WALTER family of California and the LAWRENCE family of Springfield, Missouri.
• Mining engineer; Harvard graduate.23, p G27
• She left Mr. A. who many years older than she for her real love Willis Lawrence. He was a civil engineer - the most gentle, kindly man I ever knew. If you have a pin - a fan on a bar, with colored quartz - that Willis gave Alice when she was in high school.36, pp 6&7; lines 272-275
• Willis Lawrence was a faro dealer and book maker. He came from a very fine family and was a man of fine character. He died while I was in Missouri and left an estate of $55,000 which he divided among about 40 people. Zena knew three girls to which he gave $500.00 each, people that had been kind to him during his sickness.519, p 1
• Willis Lawrence, a former husband of Mrs. Fladung, testified that he taught her to shoot in Arizona, and that she became very expert with a pistol.1978
• …who now [1899] resides in California.1994
• As a young man, Willis Lawrence left his job as a telegrapher to go to the Arizona gold fields. There he was a prospector and teamster, and there, his friends said, he made money. There, also, he contracted the beginnings of the rheumatism which made him a cripple the last 30 years of his life.
Shortly after Lawrence returned here [Springfield] to settle down after a life of wandering, his mother, Mrs. Sarah C. Lawrence fell and broke her shoulder. A neighbor, who came in to clean the house for her, found $30,000 in unregistered bonds in a dresser drawer. At his mother’s death in 1927, Lawrence inherited most of her $29,961.69 fortune.
Neighbors called the aged cripple “the most generous man we ever knew.” He gave freely of his money to beggars and needy persons, they said–so freely that his friends feared he would give all of it away. During the depression, he tided over many a friend, and was a source of ready cash during the bank holiday in the spring of 1933.
Tired of the continual pain he suffered, Lawrence a few weeks ago, prepared to die. He made a long list of relatives–26 first and second cousins–and friends scattered over the nation, and to each of the 41 people he finally included in the list, he left a substantial sum in cash. Last night, he ended his own life with a revolver in his room here.1993
• Willis Lawrence came to Springfield with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Lawrence, from Montpelier, Vt., when he was just a boy, in 1867. He didn’t have much formal education. He learned telegraphy, and was a railroad telegrapher here for several years. Then, while he was still a young man, he pulled out for the gold fields in Arizona. There he drove a team. He was out there a “long time,” his friends said. He made some money.
He came back to Springfield and established a home here. For several years he traveled. He made good investments during these years. Finally, in 1923, he settled in Springfield. The years he spent in the gold fields, however, began to tell on him 30 years ago. Rheumatism bothered him increasingly. Finally he had to use crutches to get around.1993
• Manager Willis Lawrence has introduced a number of improvements in methods of operating and is achieving excellent results. [Presumably the same Willis Lawrence]1995
• Mrs. [George] Lawrence died without will, but the court appointed Willis Lawrence, who was the sole heir. He was administrator of the estate and had to make a rather large bond. This he did through a bonding company and had to pay quite a fee. Mrs. Lawrence might have avoided that expense if she had made a will. Willis Lawrence may have made some money in the west but he also inherited the Lawrence fortune. He seemed to be a careful, close sort of a man inclined to deny himself many things in life until his later days when he became extremely liberal and aided many a poor and deserving person through his generosity. The Lawrence family were a substantial trio, who had always been well off, honest, and considerate of others.1996
• Mining engineer; Harvard graduate.23, p G27
• She left Mr. A. who many years older than she for her real love Willis Lawrence. He was a civil engineer - the most gentle, kindly man I ever knew. If you have a pin - a fan on a bar, with colored quartz - that Willis gave Alice when she was in high school.36, pp 6&7; lines 272-275
• Willis Lawrence was a faro dealer and book maker. He came from a very fine family and was a man of fine character. He died while I was in Missouri and left an estate of $55,000 which he divided among about 40 people. Zena knew three girls to which he gave $500.00 each, people that had been kind to him during his sickness.519, p 1
• Willis Lawrence, a former husband of Mrs. Fladung, testified that he taught her to shoot in Arizona, and that she became very expert with a pistol.1978
• …who now [1899] resides in California.1994
• As a young man, Willis Lawrence left his job as a telegrapher to go to the Arizona gold fields. There he was a prospector and teamster, and there, his friends said, he made money. There, also, he contracted the beginnings of the rheumatism which made him a cripple the last 30 years of his life.
Shortly after Lawrence returned here [Springfield] to settle down after a life of wandering, his mother, Mrs. Sarah C. Lawrence fell and broke her shoulder. A neighbor, who came in to clean the house for her, found $30,000 in unregistered bonds in a dresser drawer. At his mother’s death in 1927, Lawrence inherited most of her $29,961.69 fortune.
Neighbors called the aged cripple “the most generous man we ever knew.” He gave freely of his money to beggars and needy persons, they said–so freely that his friends feared he would give all of it away. During the depression, he tided over many a friend, and was a source of ready cash during the bank holiday in the spring of 1933.
Tired of the continual pain he suffered, Lawrence a few weeks ago, prepared to die. He made a long list of relatives–26 first and second cousins–and friends scattered over the nation, and to each of the 41 people he finally included in the list, he left a substantial sum in cash. Last night, he ended his own life with a revolver in his room here.1993
• Willis Lawrence came to Springfield with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Lawrence, from Montpelier, Vt., when he was just a boy, in 1867. He didn’t have much formal education. He learned telegraphy, and was a railroad telegrapher here for several years. Then, while he was still a young man, he pulled out for the gold fields in Arizona. There he drove a team. He was out there a “long time,” his friends said. He made some money.
He came back to Springfield and established a home here. For several years he traveled. He made good investments during these years. Finally, in 1923, he settled in Springfield. The years he spent in the gold fields, however, began to tell on him 30 years ago. Rheumatism bothered him increasingly. Finally he had to use crutches to get around.1993
• Manager Willis Lawrence has introduced a number of improvements in methods of operating and is achieving excellent results. [Presumably the same Willis Lawrence]1995
• Mrs. [George] Lawrence died without will, but the court appointed Willis Lawrence, who was the sole heir. He was administrator of the estate and had to make a rather large bond. This he did through a bonding company and had to pay quite a fee. Mrs. Lawrence might have avoided that expense if she had made a will. Willis Lawrence may have made some money in the west but he also inherited the Lawrence fortune. He seemed to be a careful, close sort of a man inclined to deny himself many things in life until his later days when he became extremely liberal and aided many a poor and deserving person through his generosity. The Lawrence family were a substantial trio, who had always been well off, honest, and considerate of others.1996
Census
• 1860 Census: Rosendale, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Age 4, b WI.1997
• 1870 Census: Springfield, Greene, Missouri. Age 14, b WI.1992
• 1900 Census: San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Age 44, b VT. Lodger. Civil Engineer. Parents b VT. Married 5 years.1967
• 1930 Census: Springfield, Greene, Missouri. Age 74, b WI. Roomer in household of John J. Fleming. Parents b VT. No occupation.1998
• 1870 Census: Springfield, Greene, Missouri. Age 14, b WI.1992
• 1900 Census: San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Age 44, b VT. Lodger. Civil Engineer. Parents b VT. Married 5 years.1967
• 1930 Census: Springfield, Greene, Missouri. Age 74, b WI. Roomer in household of John J. Fleming. Parents b VT. No occupation.1998
Research
• Have found no evidence to confirm his being a “Harvard graduate;” 20 Jul 2023.
ChildrenMaud (1898-)