| Notes |
- . 1741 Feb. 20 - WILL of Wm. Lawrence (Jr) names brothers Joseph & Benjamin as executors.
Note: However, when Wm.'s own WILL was proved on 22 Nov, 1750, the 3 of the executors were dead. (PJA 2010.)
. 1709 March - A road from the highway that goeth along ye rear of Joseph Lawrence's land, to Hochocson Swamp; then to the line that parts Morris & Thomas Leonards, thence along said line to the brook, thence down brook to bridge, then to place where bridge was made over, below the Sawmill, then to William Lawrence's Mill.
Records of June 1710 - Beginning on top of the hill where the path now goes, up over part of Swimming River, that leads up to Henry Leonard's Sawmill (1st) where road that comes from William Lawrence's to Shrewsbury crosses said river, then running southwest to a small black oak tree, being corner tree of Johannes Polhemus (on Laird Road, Fredericks property) & Auka Leffers (Lefferts), then along line of said Johannes Polhemus & Auka Leffers to lie & remain upon Polhemus' land, until it comes to where aforesaid road crosses said Polhemus & Leffers land.
. Richard Lawrence, born in 1691; he lived in Flushing, Long Island; died in 1781; married, April 6, 1717, at Friends' Meeting-house, Flushing, Hannah Bowne, daughter of Samuel & Mary (Becket) Bowne. Issue.
Thomas Lawrence; he was living in Flushing in 1698; is not mentioned in his father's WILL.
Elizabeth Lawrence; married John Bowne; removed in 1737, from Flushing, Long Island, to Yonkers, Westchester County, New York.
John Lawrence, of whom below.
Sarah Lawrence.
Hannah Lawrence; married Moses Molyneux, of Westchester County, New York.
Abigail Lawrence; married Major Alexander Forbes, of the British Army.
. The Point Pleasant Land Co., (a summer resort). The first purchase extended from the ocean back to the Old Squan Rd. & down to near the head of Barnegat Bay. Streets were laid out 50 to 60 feet wide. Joseph Lawrence was a son of the first William & became posses of 4/5ths of his father's estate above & below Manasquan river.
The Curits family owned at one time most of the land around Point Pleasant. The first of the family were steps-sons of Joseph Lawrence who married a widow Curtis. Joseph Lawrence lives just over the river in Monmouth on the Col. James Osborne's place.
. Deed signed, by Joseph Lawrence to Jos. Bonny of Woodbridge, lands in East New Jersey. Joseph Lawrence of Flushing in Queen's Co., Nassau Isl., Prov. of NY, Gent., eldest son of Elizabeth Lawrence, alias Carteret, alias Townley, deceased, of Elizabeth Town in Prov. East NJ. 26 Jun 1755.
Wit. Affirmation of Daniel Lawrence being of the people called Quakers.
Ref: Book H2, Deeds, p 348, Trenton, NJ.
. John Lawrence, son of Joseph Lawrence & Mary (Townley) Lawrence,
was born in 1703, in Flushing, Long Island. Early in life he moved to Elizabeth, NJ. In 1729 he settled in Newport, Rhode Island, where he was engaged in shipbuilding.
He was the owner of many vessels; one named the Three Brothers, In memory of the 3 pioneers, John, Thomas, & William Lawrence, left Newport for a European voyage, & was never heard from. (In advanced life he removed to Providence, Rhode Island. Died, November 10, 1781,) & was burled in the Old Nicholas Brown's North Burial Ground, Providence, Rhode Island.
Joseph Lawrence married1. Sarah Worth. b 27 Dec 1670 & married2. Rachel Folke, b c 1670.
Children of Joseph
1. Elisha Lawrence b: BET 1720 & 1730
2. Benjamin Lawrence b: 1744.
Townley Family: http://home.earthlink.net/~lawrence/mystery.htm
JOSEPH LAWRENCE, (who married Mary Townley, 1690) had as children Elizabeth (married John Bowne, 1714), & Abigail, who married Major Alexander Forbes of the British Army.
WILL of Joseph Lawrence, Flushing; Queens County on Nassau Island in the Province of New York, Yeoman, being in good health & of sound & perfect mind and memory, do make and ordain this my last WILL & Testament in the following manner, my personal Estate, after that all my just & lawful Debts & funeral expenses are paid, I do give & dispose thereof as followeth.
. Impriminis, I bequeath unto my wife the use & all the profits of my farm which I now possess, &the West room & Household enough to furnish it withal & the Kitchen for to use as she pleaseth;
. to my good, son Richard Lawrence the sum of 5 shillings he having his full portion already,
. unto my son John Lawrence the sum of 5 shillings he having had his portion already.
. give my daughter Elizabeth Bowne the sum of £5 & a wench named Nell.
. unto my daughters Sarah Lawrence, Hannah Mollyudee & Abigal Forbes, all the rest of my Estate both Household Goods & moveables, to be equally divided between my 3 daughters above mentioned,
. Executrix my daughter Sarah Lawrence to be my Executrix & Stephen Lawrence to be my Executors of this my last Will and Testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and fixed my
Signed, 1754 Dec 8 Anno Domini, Joseph Lawrence, David Rod Jun, John Embree & Jacob Lawrence.
. Queens County, Be it Remembered that on the 18 April 1759, Jamaica, Queens Co., personally came before me Samuel Clowes, Jun., David Rod, Jun., one of the . Witnesses to the within WILL; being duly sworn, declared that he did see Joseph Lawrence deceased, in his lifetime sign & seal the same, his last Will and Testament, & he further on his oath affirmed declared that he did see John Embree & Jacob Lawrence sign as Witnesses to the same in the presence of the Testator.
Signed, S Clowes, Surrogate.
Ref: NY Wills, Surrogate's Office, Liber 22, p7.
* * * THE MYSTERY SOLVED - FACTS RELATING TO THE Lawrence -TOWNLEY CHASE-TOWNLEY MARRIAGE & ESTATE QUESTION
by Frank Alden Hill, Rand Avery County, 1888., found in Los Angeles Public Library.
. Among those families trying to claim descent were descendants of John, William & Thomas Lawrence of Long Island; Lawrence s of Nova Scotia (purportedly descended from Sir Robert Lawrence of Ashton Hall in England); descendants of John Lawrence of Watertown, Massachusetts (the "heirs" apparently held a large meeting in Boston in April 1855); the Chase family ("of which the late Chief Justice, Salmon P. Chase, was a member"); the Townley family (Effingham Townley of Elizabethtown, NJ is mentioned as being so certain of proof of their claim that he made provision for the estate's distribution in his will!); & the Williams family (positive that Sarah Lawrence, who married their ancestor, was the daughter of Mary Townley, who married Joseph Lawrence).
> Gatherings of possible heirs occurred in New York in July 1857, at the American Hotel, Toronto, Canada in April 1867, & in Middletown, New York in Oct 1877, to name a few.
Specific families named in the book included:
. Jasiel Lawrence, born 30 Sep 1808, of Watson, Lewis County , NY, son of Jasiel Lawrence Sr. born 1772 in Easton, MA & died at Durhamville, Oneida County NY. Jasiel Sr. had a brother, Libbeus Lawrence, born 1765 in Nova Scotia & died 1818 in Lansingburgh, NY, whose son John A. Lawrence died June 1857 in Troy, NY, & grandson Norman J. Lawrence died 1862 without heirs.
Major Eleazer Lawrence who left a will 29 Dec 1749, Cambridge, MA. In connection with this family, Experience Lawrence who married Jabez Keep of Westford, MA & Tryphena Lawrence who married her cousin Jonas Lawrence of Canaan, CT (descendants in Tioga County,New York & Bradford County, PA are specifically addressed.
Lawrences of (Louisville,) Kentucky who descend from Levin Lawrence who died between Apr & Sep 1756 & is buried probably near Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland. Levin married Susannah, (born 1717) daughter of John & Honor Dorsey (D'Arcy) of Maryland. The family coat of arms implies descent from the Lawrence family of Lancashire, England.
Thomas Laurenzen from Groningen in Holland, who, upon his admission to the Dutch Church in New York in 1662 was styled Thomas Laurenze, Popinga. He married 1663 Marritje Jans, widow of Cornelis Van Langvelt.
Joseph Lawrence & wife Mary of Plainfield & Killingly, CT. Their dau. Mary married first Lemuel Dean & 2nd John Williams (thus ensuring the Lawrence -Townley story in the Talcott, French, Warren, Williams & Dean families of New England & the West).
The author concluded that there was no basis for the Lawrence families' claim & that no Lawrence married Mary Townley.
So, if your Lawrence family has such a "legend," tread cautiously!
Signed, Carol Vidales.
The source was found in "Vital Stats from New Brunswick Newspapers. Vol.53 Item #2316. I sent to the St John Library & received the whole article , as follows: Lawrence-TOWNLEY.
The following is published for the information of all interested:
. 1880 Nov 2, Fredericton, NB. To Mr. Thomas Lawrence & others.
My instructions from you were to learn if there was, as has been reported, an estate in England for the heirs of John Lawrence , who married Mary Townley; & if so, whether you & the descendants of Isaac Lawrence , who was born in Westchester, New York on the 16th August 1756, are entitled to any share in it. I have to report that I have seen satisfactory evidence of the existence of an estate, descending to the said heirs; but I am also satisfied that you are not descended from John Lawrence & Mary Townley. My reasons for arriving at these conclusions are as follows: Sir Richard Townley, of Townley Hall, Lancashire, married Mary, daughter & only child of William, Widdrington & died in 1735, leaving him surviving several sons & 2 daughters; namely Mary, who made a clandestine marriage with John Lawrence, & Dorothy who married Francis Howard, afterwards Lord Effingham.
The direct male line of the Townley's having become extinct in 1813, about 1829 one Jonathan Lawrence, descended from Joseph Lawrence , of Flushing L.I. who, it was stated married Mary Lawrence after the death of John, filed a claim in Chancery, claiming:
- 1st. The estate, real & personal, of William, late Lord Widdrington. 2nd. The estate, real & personal, of the late Lord Effingham, including Corby estate. 3rd. The estate of Standish. 4th. The personal estate of Mary, widow of Sir Richard Townley. 5th. The personal estate of Dorothy Howard, also her real estate. 6th The real & personal estate of Sir Richard Townley. 7th. The accumulated rents & interest. The decree in the cause contained among other things the following statement: This case having been heard upon the case & proofs on fiel, it is found ordered & adjudged that the said claimants are not the lawful & lineal descendants of John Lawrence & Mary Townley. It is further found, adjudged, that the estates descend to Mary Townley, who married John Lawrence, a seafaring man, & some years afterwards emigrated to America, having 1 son, Johnathon & 1e daughter: The date of the emigration was 1713; & Jonathan Lawrence the son, was then only 2 years old. Now., Isaac Lawrence, your ancestor was born in 1756. His father was Jesse, born in 1727, & his descent has been traced directly to Thomas, born in England in 1625, & there is no John Lawrence in the pedigree. A comparison of dates will show that it is impossible that you are in line of descent from John Lawrence & Mary Townley. The connection which exists between your family & that of Colonel Richard Lawrence of Staten Island, who died at Eltham, England in 1789, is by marriage only. Under these circumstances, I cannot advise you to incur any further expense in prosecuting your claim. Signed, Chas. H. Lugrin."
Research & transcriptions by PJ Ahlberg. Thank you. - - - [1, 2, 3]
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1668 - 1741 (73 years)