I feel so badly that I have misled anyone concerning Ann Lawson. For at least the last twenty years, I have mistakenly provided her maiden name as "Larson" not Lawson. I always thought it was strange because I was not able to find anything about a Larson family living in Clay or Putnam County, Indiana where I new my Clark ancestors lived. I had always heard that Ann was from the same general community as James E. Clark, whose family lived at Harmony, Clay County, Indiana and yet I couldn't find a Larson family living anywhere near them.
So when I received an inquiry asking if her name could have been Ann Lawson, I began to do the research and found that yes, indeed, Ann Larson was really Ann Lawson. The main fact that verified it for me was that my paternal grandmother, Mabel Rachel (Jones) Clark, had given me two pictures of Ann, and had written her maiden and married name on the back of the photos. When I examined them closely with magnification, she had clearly written "Lawson" and I had just misinterpreted it.
As a result, I have done some extensive genealogical research on the Lawson families in Clay and Putnam County, Indiana and I have found that they were ABUNDANT! There were no fewer than a dozen Lawson families living in those two counties during the 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, and even up until the turn of the century. So let me present the family of Ann (Lawson) Clark in genealogical format.
Ann "Annie" (Lawson) Clark's Parents and Siblings
Father: Willis Lawson - Born about 1794 in Virginia.
Died about 1845 in Washington Township, Putnam County, Indiana
Mother: Mary (?) Born about 1805 in Virginia
Died about 1860 in Washington Township, Putnam County, Indiana
Children: James Lawson - born 1827 - Died 1901
Elizabeth Lawson - Born 1834 - Died 1894
Nancy Jane Lawson - Born 1841 - Died About 1900
Amanda Lawson - Born About 1842
Sarah Lawson - Born February 1844 - Died December 31, 1915
Ann "Annie" Lawson - Born October 1845 - Died February 2, 1917
I'm fairly certain that I have determined the parents of Willis Lawson, but I'll speak to that later.
I have not been able to determine the maiden name of Mary (?) Lawson. I know from census records that she was born about 1805 in Virginia and died in Washington Township, Putnam County, Indiana. I have not been able to find the location of her grave site.
Willis and Mary (?) Lawson were the parents of at least six children and may have had more. Some genealogists also assign Leason Lawson to them as their oldest child. However Leason Lawson was born about 1820 and that would mean that his mother could not have been more than 15 or 16 at the time of his birth. This in itself is not unusual for the time, but I just want to see if I can find any additional facts that indicate he is the son of Willis and Mary (?) Lawson.
Willis Lawson was born in Virginia and was most likely married to Mary (?) in Virginia before moving to Shelby County, Kentucky. He and his wife Mary Lawson are shown as farmers in Shelby County, Kentucky on both the 1820 and the 1830 United States Census.
In 1834, Willis Lawson moved his family to Washington Township, Putnam County, Indiana where he purchased 40 acres of land and farmed. He later purchased an additional 120 acres of land, enlarging his holdings. The family as shown above, are all recorded on the 1840 US Census living on their farm in Putnam County, Indiana.
Sometime between 1840 and 1850, Willis Lawson died. I have not been able to find his grave site but it is assumed that he died while living on his farm in Washington Township because his widow, Mary (?) Lawson and all of his children, are recorded as living on that farm in the 1850 Census. Mary (?) Lawson and her three youngest children, Amanda, Sarah and Ann, are all recorded as living on the farm when the 1860 US Census was taken. Mary died after the 1860 Census was taken. I have not been able to find any record of her death or burial.
I have been able to find additional information about five of the six children of Willis and Mary (?) Lawson. and it indicates that there was a close friendship between the Lawson and Clark families.
James Lawson, the eldest son of Willis and Mary (?) Lawson, was born in 1827 while the family still lived in Shelby County, Kentucky. He moved to Indiana with his parents in 1834. His wife's name was Margaret, but her maiden name is not known. The date of the marriage has not been found as of this writing. However, James and wife Margaret (?) Lawson eventually followed other family members to Wabaunsee County, Kansas because he is recorded living in Mission Creek Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas on the 1880 Census. Here are the children of James and Margaret (?) Lawson:
Maria Lawson - 1857
Thomas Lawson - 1857
Jane "Janie" Lawson - 1867 - 1843
James Lawson, Jr. 1867
William Lawson - 1868
Arthur Lawson - 1870
Charles Lawson - 1874
Ida M. Lawson - 1876
Frankie A. Lawson - 1879
At least one of the children of James and Margaret (?) Lawson married into the Clark family.
Jane "Janie" Lawson was born in January 1867 in Clay County, Indiana and grew up knowing Lewis C. Clark, son of John and Sophia (Rice) Clark. The Clark family moved to Wabaunsee County in a group of 16 people in three covered wagons, in 1878. Jane Lawson moved to Wabaunsee County, Kansas with her family soon after that.
Lewis and Jane "Janie" (Lawson) Clark were married on November 5, 1882 at the home of the groom on Dog Creek in Newbury Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas. They would live on farms in Newbury and Maple Hill Townships, and in the city of Maple Hill, the remainder of their lives.
This is a photograph of Lewis and Jane "Janie" (Lawson) Clark taken on the porch of their home in Maple Hill, Kansas in 1927.
Lewis and Janie (Lawson) Clark were the parents of six children:
Etta Mae Clark (1883-1912)
William John "Bill" Clark (1888-1969)
Roy Clark (1891 - ?)
Clarence McKinley Clark (1896-1984)
Oney Cecil Clark (1905-1987)
The James Lawson family moved to Soldier, Shawnee, Kansas sometime around 1890. They lived in Shawnee County, Kansas the remainder of their lives and both James and Margaret (?) Lawson are buried in Rochester Cemetery, Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas along with several of their children and grandchildren.
So Ann "Annie" (Lawson) Clark was the aunt of Jane "Janie" (Lawson) Clark, and Ann (Lawson) Clark was the youngest sister of James Lawson, Jane's father.
There is yet another connection between the Clark and Lawson families. Ann (Lawson) Clark's sister, Sarah Lawson, was married to John A. Clark. John A. Clark was the oldest son of Oliver Clark and his wife Letta (Roberts) Clark. Oliver was the youngest brother of John Clark, Sr. and Charles "Charlie" Clark, who both moved from Harmony, Clay County, Indiana to Wabaunsee County, Kansas in 1878. So far as I'm able to determine, Oliver Clark never lived in Wabaunsee County, but he did visit his brothers and he did attend the funeral of at least John Clark, Sr.
John A. Clark was married to Sarah Lawson, on January 17, 1853 in Putnam County, Indiana. Susan Lawson and her parents, Willis and Mary (?) Lawson had lived on a farm in Washington Township, Putnam County, Indiana. They may have been married at her mother's home.
John and Susan lived in Putnam, Clay and Vigo Counties in Indiana before moving to Wabash Township, Clark County, Illinois before 1880. Their family is recorded as living there on the 1880 US Census. They were the parents of the following children:
Stephen Clark (1862 - ?)
Frank Clark (1863 - ?)
Nancy "Nan" Clark (1870 - ?)
Susan Clark - (1871 - ?)
Oliver Clark - (1872 - ?)
John A. Clark died on his farm in Wabash Township, Clark County, Illinois in 1891. His wife Sarah (Lawson) Clark died there in 1915.
According to the 1900 and 1910 US Census, Sarah (Lawson) Clark and her sister Nancy (Lawson) Johnson, were living together in Sarah (Lawson) Clark's home. I have not been able to find a death record or burial location for either of these sisters.
I was able to find a photograph of Sarah (Lawson) Clark with her daughter Nancy "Nan" Clark. I want to use the photograph with one of Ann "Annie" (Lawson) Clark, to show the close family resemblance.
This is a photograph of Sarah (Lawson) Clark, wife of John A. Clark, and her daughter Nancy "Nan" Clark. The resemblance between Sarah and her sister, Ann (Lawson) Clark, wife of James E. Clark, is amazing.
This is a photograph of Ann (Lawson) Clark, wife of James E. Clark and sister of Sarah (Lawson) Clark.
This is a photograph of the entire family of John A. and Sarah (Larson) Clark taken about 1890 before John's death in 1891.
As an amateur genealogist, I so much enjoy all of the detective work that goes along with trying to unravel our ancestry. I am so glad that I received the inquiry about Ann (Lawson) Clark. It has led me on a very pleasant journey of discovery---a journey that was greatly aided by those family genealogists that have gone before me. I am so grateful to them and to my grandmothers, who instilled a love of family---my kith and kin!
Happy trails!!
Leason Lawson was my Great, Great Grandfather. Yes, there is every indication that Leason was a son of Willis. There are also reports that Willis was married previously to (unknown) and Mary Struten was his second wife.
ReplyDeleteEverything you have gathered is very interesting. Perhaps we can check notes on the Lawson family one
I am related to Leason Lawson and Mary Ann Lawson also. I found a record that verifies Leason was Willis Lawson's eldest son.
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