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- Capt. Wm. Lawrence, sinour, landed in America on Sunday, 1635 Apr 2, on the ship "Planter" age 12 years.
. William Lawrence lived in the North Riding of Yorkshire, left Plymouth, England in 1635, & landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Patentees of Flushing, Long Island in 1645.
Ref: Magna Carta Barons & their Descendants, Charles H. Browning, reprinted 1969.
Summary of locations he lived:
. First resided at Flushing at, age 12. - Patent & lived in Middleburg, also known as, Newtown, 1656, purchaser. Returned to Flushing & bought Tew's Neck later named Lawrence's Neck, (i.e. a penisula) where he lived the rest of his life.
. Proprietor of Lawrence's Neck (also called Flushing, Long Island, New York City) which stretches into the Sound between Flushing Bay & Whitstone, 900 Acres:
was first called Maspeth, New Netherland, until 1643 Indian attack. Flushing was first named Vlissingen for Zealand, Holland;
. 1651 renamed Middleburgh, New Netherland;
. 1664 Hastings when the English assumed New York;
. 1665 Apr 23 - Middletown NJ, Town Book - In a legal towne meeting 4 men present, Richard Gibbins, Richard Stout, William Lawrence & Jonathan Homes, on behalf of the towne reported they unanimously agreed Robt. Jones, about to build a mill, shall be made good by the whole towne;
Newton, Queensborugh, was the name the locals had used.
. Among those who came from Long Island before the expiration of the 3 year limit in the Patent was William Lawrence. He became a large landowner & during his life deeded tracts to his children.
. 1666 - Berkley & Cartaret assured to the settlers of New Jersey, that the province should be ruled by laws enacted by the representatives of the people who had the power of peace & war entrusted to them. No tax, subsidy, tillage, assessment or duty whatever is to be imposed, except by the authority & consent of the general assembly. Land was allotted according to the time of arrival & the number of indented servants & slaves; the settler paid a half penny per acre quit rent & was bound to maintain one able bodied male servant per 100 acres.
Richard Nicolls, the duke's governor, convened an assembly from the towns of Long Island, & Westchester to meet at Hempstead, March 1st, 1665, At this meeting, Nicolls promulgated the laws called the duke's laws, which continued in force, notwithstanding the peoples discontent, The large Assembly of deputies assembled at Hempstead in March 1665. ...The colonies chose their own magistrates & he instructed they in the law to go before the King. A judgement having been obtained against William Lawrence, of Flushing, the governor, on appeal, made it void.
Ref: History of the New Netherlands, Vol. 2.
. 1665 - Wm. C. Lawrence was a magistrate under the Dutch government in Flushing & again a magistrate & a military commissioner for the North Riding of Yorkshire, Long Island, NY.
. 1669 Jul 20, William Lawrence, Daniel Estall, George Mountand, Richard Gibbins were chose deputies for this present year according to the order made: to assist the constable & overseers.
. 1669 Monmouth County Quit Rent, William Lawrence Sr.
. 1670 May the 9th, In a legal towne meeting the major part being present, Ed. Smith was by the major vote chosen to be constable for the following year. Wm. Lawrence chosen overseer.
. 1669 April 30th, Fort James in York. To John Richbell of Mororonock, Wm. Lawrence of Flushing. A Warrant to John Archer to take up a stray horse. These are to empower you to make enquiry after & to take up if he can be found a certain stray horse running in ye woods or some other place near unto or about your Towne of Westchester. The said horse being of gray color & branded with an Anchor on ye near shoulder & that you cause him to be brought to the Towne, where he shall remain until it be made appear to whom it doh with right belong or be disposed of as ye Law shall direct and for so doing this shall be your warrant. Given under my hand, Signed, Francis Lovelace.
. Another to take up a stray Bull. These are to empower you to take up a certain stray bull now running at your Plantation about 3 years old the which you are to make & if you find it convenient, geld him & if the right owner appeare not to claime him within the time in the Law prescribed that you dispose not of him without my order. Given under my and at Fort James, NY, Fr. L.
Ref: Minutes of the Executive Council of the province of New York.
. LAWRENCE OF MONMOUNTH COUNTY, N.J.
. 1677 - William Lawrence, owning land at Middleborough, now Newtown, L.I., came to Monmouth Co., NJ about 1677; settled at Hop River, where he had a house, a fulling mill & orchard. He owned land at Middletown & Wakake. Was an overseer at Middletown in 1668 & 1670-71; & in 1669 & 1673 was a Deputy to the Legislature.
NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS:
. Shares of meadow in Hunt's cove, 16. 1 share of salt meadow at Head of the bay, 16, one Negro, John, 50, Negro Andrew, 40. Ten Negroes in all. One English boy called by the name of Bishop, for a year & some months service, 5. 32 oxen, 160. 46 cows. 17 Horses. The inventory is very lengthy, showing great wealth & high social station. Total, 4,032. Taken by Richard Cornell, John Browne, John Lawrence, Abm. Whearly. Elizabeth Lawrence & Wm. Lawrence, administrators, made oath to the same in presence of Governor & Council, November 18, 1680.
. 1675 Sept. 10. - Patent to Hans Alberts of Newark for land there, vizt: 1, a house lot of 6 acres, along the highway on the N. W. of Richard Lawrence & John Ward Turner; East. of Daniel DOD; N. of John Crane & Tho. Hundinton; 2, seven acres of upland in the Great Neck, bounded W. by Stephen Bonde by Rich. Lawrence; 3. 20 acres of upland beyond the Mill Brook on the Great River; 4. seven a. in the Mill Brook swamp, adjoining Stephen DAVIS; 5. three a. of meadows near Wheelers Creek, coming up to Tichenors Cave; 6. four acres of meadow near the Hay S. of Zachariah Burwell, 136 Acres.
. The names of most of the early settlers of Monmouth are given in Proprietors' Records at Perth Amboy, but in a majority of cases, the year is not given when they came.
Rights of Land:
. 1676 - William Lawrence, in right of self & sister Hannah Lawrence, 240 acres.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY :
. 1676 -7 January 10. To John Vaughan of Middletown for:
A tract of 126 acres, bounded N. W. & S. W. by Richard Gibbons, S. E. by un-surveyed land, N. E. by Poirsy Run;
Nine acres of meadow, formerly Benjamin Deull's; bounded E. by James Grover; W. by Wm. Lawrence; S. by upland; N. by the beach. 165 Acres.
Ref: Calendar of New Jersey Patents.
. 1678 Jun 1 - Memorial concerning 1,000 acres at Chohazicke, intended for Wm. LAWRENCE, upon Richard Noble's assignment. (Undated. Previous entry, 1678 June 1.)
. 1681 July 5 - William Lawrence of Middletown, East Jersey, planter, by his attorney, Anthony Page of Monmouth River, W. J., planter, to Jasper Harman of Chohanzey, W. J., yeoman, for 500 acres, part of the 1,000 a. tract bought by said LAWRENCE of Richard Noble, April 15, 1676, to whom John Fenwick had granted it May 14, 1675.
. 1685-6 Jan. 5 - To William Lawrence of Middletown, for 420 a. on the South Hop River, bounded on all sides by South Hop & North Hop Rivers. ... The first fulling mill, owned by Wm. Lawrence, was on Long Bridge Road.
One of New Jersey's first fulling mills (perhaps the oldest) was run & owned by William Lawrence on Hop Brook. Fulling was a process of cleansing or thickening cloth by beating or washing. William Lawrence died in 1701 & willed the mill, house & properties to one of his sons, James who later moved to Crosswicks, on Long Bridge Road.
Ref: History of Colts Neck, CN Library 1965.
. Jacobus Suydam married a daughter of Capt. Cor. Rapelye, after engaging successfully in commerce in NYC, he retired from business & bought the Estate of William Lawrence of Newtown. Here he lived until his death in 1825.
. 1675 Oct 21, the Indians to follow the directions of the Assizes to remove from Mr. Pells. No powder nor lead to be sold in this town to the Indians. Mr. Cornell, Captain Wm. Lawrence from Flushing, M. Gildersleeve & Mr. Geo. Hewlett, Hempstead, same according to the order this day from 2 towns Tackpouha & the rest came not till this evening & brought some pretending to land with them the persons appeared just agreeing returned with them. Indians renewed their pretense to land North of Hampstead & particularly Cows Neck, Little Madnams New, Great Madnasa Next, makes offers but they not will to consent with Colts Neck so to remain as it is but neither Christian nor Indian to be permitted to settle there at present. One of the Indians claims Thee Necks to belong to hem & an old Squaw they asked 120 Lbs. again as before for the Three Necks & to keep Colts next themselves all that have pretenses must come together some other time & the Governor will agree with them.
Ref: Documents relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, 1886.
. 1678 May 7 - Order referring to the Sessions the complaint of the constable of Flushing against Capt. William Lawrence, for fencing in the highway. p90.
Ref: Calendar of Historical Manuscripts in the Office of the Secretary of State, Albany, NY, Edmund B O'Callaghan, 1866.
Death of William Lawrence:
. Whereas Captain William Lawrence, late of Cow's Neck in Flushing, one of the Justices of the Peace of the North Riding, died intestate, leaving a considerable Estate, & divers children, & Elizabeth his wife, & his eldest son, William by a former marriage, having made application for Letters of Administration, & having brought in an inventory, they were appointed March 25, 1680. Ref: Page 269.
The Duke's Laws of 1665 mandated that an inventory was to be taken within 48 hours after appropriate official inquiry of the death had begun [into a person dying instate.} William Lawrence's inventories portray a sober man of considerable wealth. His personal wearing apparel was sturdy, useful, & appropriate for a man who at once was a Quaker, merchant, trader, magistrate, planter, & slaveholder. The 2 of William Lawrence's inventories taken at his death in 1680 - one for his warehouse in Manhattan & the other for his shop & dwelling in Flushing.
Benefitting from Flushing's abundance & quasi-independence from the colonial government centered at New Amsterdam/New York, William Lawrence flourished in the New World. The value of his land, chattels, & effects at £4432:01:10 ½ was substantial for 1680.
The personal clothing of William Lawrence listed in the inventory include one worsted & 1 haire camlet cloak, a broadcloth (textile made of carded wool in plain weave that is fulled after weaving) suit, a drugg et (a lighter woolen) suit, an old norwester, & a castor (beaver fur hat). Lawrence was likely among the richest men in the colony. His material wealth is comparable to that of Cornelis Steenwyck, one of New Netherland's principal merchants who also served as magistrate, burgomaster, & alderman.
The Business of Agribusiness Lawrence was among the largest landowners in Flushing. The main dwelling house, along with orchards & meadows, were located at Tew's Neck, an extensive swath of land jutting into the Long Island Sound (today College Point, Queens). Other Flushing property included land at Whitestone & lots in the center of town where his retail shop probably stood. In addition to property in lower Manhattan, Lawrence owned acres in Newtown to the west, meadows across the Long Island Sound in Westchester & land at various places further east near Smithtown. Lawrence's expansive property include numerous shares of Salt Meadow, a grassy marsh prone to flooding by salt water. In colonial America salt meadow was an important resource for sustaining animal herds, especially cattle. Adriean van der Donck notes in A Description of New Netherland (1656) that cattle were suffering from disease due to the consumption of "sweet hay." The issue was not resolved until animals started consuming hay grown on salt wetlands. At his death, Lawrence had 173 Cattle & 72 swine & were probably shipped to provide provisions to West Indies plantations or at the Manhattan market. Barrels of pork & beef, along with hooks, sickles, scythes & pitchforks for wheat harvesting, are listed in his Manhattan warehouse.
Ref: William Lawrence's Manhattan warehouse inventory currently resides in the manuscripts collection: "Inventories, New York State, 1680-1844", MS 450.2 at the NY Historical Society Museum & Library, & a copy at Bowne House Historical Society, NY.
. 1680 Mar 10 - Whereas William Lawrence, late of Flushing, deceased, had left a considerable estate & 7 young children, that is to say Mary, Thomas, Joseph, Richard, Samuel, Sarah & James, whose proportion & share of their said father's estate according to law amounts to each of them £277 12s 4p which is & remains in the hands & possession of Elizabeth the widow & administratrix of the said Wm. & mother to the said children who desiring in Council to be admitted their guardian, these are to certify that he said Elizabeth Lawrence is by advice of the Council admitted & allowed of to be guardian for the said 7 children & to have possession & enjoy their said portions giving sufficient security to satisfy & pay the same to them & such of them when they shall attain the age of 21 y or be married.
Ref: Booke of Orders & Warrents, Secretary of State, Albany, NY, p39.
. 1680 Nov 18 - Inventory of Estate of William Lawrence, Flushing. The neck of land called Cows Neck, with housing, orchards & meadows, 1,250. Two 50 acre lots at Whitestone, 60. 50 acre lot, No. 13, 20.
The 50 acre lot in Newtons Neck 15. 104 acre lots lying at the Town, with all housing, orchards, etc., 60. 640 acres lying adjoining to Sunk meadows, eastward, & also running west to the Fresh Pond, & north to the Sound, & south to the path that goes to John Goldin's house, 150. 1/2 share of salt meadow at Townsend, & 2 shares of fresh meadow, one at Grays, & the other in the middle meadow, 10, 1 share of salt meadow at Terrys Point, 30, 6 shares of meadow at Westchester. 3 shares of meadow in the New Found Passage, 3.3 shares of meadow in Hunt's cove, 16. 1 share of salt meadow at Head of the bay, 16, one negro, John, 50, negro Andrew, 40. 10 negroes in all. One English boy called by the name of Bishop, for a year & some months service, 5. 32 oxen, 160. 46 cows.17 Horses.
The inventory is very lengthy, showing great wealth & high social station. sword, plate & personals, Merchant's list of 3 & half pages of shop goods, mostly cloth, nothing haberdashery, pewter & tools.
Total £4,432. Taken by Richard Cornell, John Bowne, John Lawrence. He made Elizabeth [nee Smith] Lawrence & Wm. Lawrence, administrators, made oath to the same in presence of Governor & Council, November 18, 1680. Page 405.
Ref: Surrogate's Office, city of NY, Liber 22, p24.
. At first this Flushing region was in the possession of William Lawrence, a gentleman of note in Colonial days, descended from that sturdy " William Lawrence, of Flushing,'' who, in 1666, was fined by Governor Nichols for daring to criticize some of his measures under the Duke's Laws. After the Revolution a part of this property came into the market, and was bought by Eliphalet Stratton for $1,250. In 1836. Here was to be conducted a regular collegiate institution under the name of St. Paul's College at College Point, for the preparation of young men for the ministry of the Episcopalian church.
Ref: Leslie's history of the greater New York V.2. - - - [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
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1622 - 1680 (57 years)
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