LAWRENCE, Joseph

1786–1842

Biography

LAWRENCE, Joseph, (father of George Van Eman Lawrence), a Representative from Pennsylvania; born near Hunterstown, Adams County, Pa., in 1786; attended the common schools; engaged in agricultural pursuits; member of the state house of representatives 1818-1824 and served as speaker 1820-1822; elected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses (March 4, 1825-March 3, 1829); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1828 to the Twenty-first Congress; again a member of the state house of representatives 1834-1836; state treasurer in 1837; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1838 to the Twenty-sixth Congress; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress and served from March 4, 1841, until his death in Washington, D.C., April 17, 1842; chairman, Committee on Roads and Canals (Twenty-seventh Congress); interment in the Congressional Cemetery.

View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

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External Research Collections

Dartmouth College
Rauner Special Collections Library

Hanover, NH
Papers: 1838, 3 pages. A letter from Joseph Lawrence to Daniel Webster written on June 6, 1838. In the letter, Joseph Lawrence writes that he thought he might have lost Daniel Webster's friendship because Harrison received the presidential nomination. Mr. Calhoun was an enemy of Mr. Van Buren.
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