Amos Adams Lawrence

Amos Adams Lawrence (July 31, 1814 – August 22, 1886), the son of philanthropist Amos Lawrence, was a key figure in the United States abolition movement in the years leading up to the Civil War. He was instrumental in the establishment of the University of Kansas, and Lawrence University (Appleton, Wisconsin).

Not to be confused with Amos Lawrence.

Amos Adams Lawrence
Amos Adams Lawrence seated at desk, c. 1880
Born	(1814-07-31)July 31, 1814 Groton, Massachusetts
Died	August 22, 1886(1886-08-22) (aged 72)
Education	Groton Academy
Alma mater	Harvard
Occupation	Merchant, abolitionist
Known for	Privately donating funds to the founding of the University of Kansas; anti-slavery movement; Jayhawker movement
Political party	Whig Republican
Spouse(s)	Sarah Elizabeth Appleton ​ ( his death 1886)
Children	William Lawrence
Parent(s)	Amos Lawrence
Relatives	Samuel Lawrence (grandfather) Luther Lawrence (uncle) Abbott Lawrence (uncle)

Early life

Lawrence was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 31, 1814.[1][2][3] He was the son of Amos Lawrence, a merchant and philanthropist.[4]

His paternal grandfather was Samuel Lawrence, who fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War and helped found Groton Academy.[5] His uncles included Luther Lawrence, who served as Mayor of Lowell, Massachusetts from 1838 to 1839, William Lawrence, and Abbott Lawrence, a U.S. Representative who served as United States Minister to Britain from 1849 to 1852.[6]

He was educated at the Groton Academy (now Lawrence Academy at Groton) and Harvard College (Class of 1835). The academy would later be named after him.[4]

Career

Following his graduation from Harvard, he entered business for himself as a commission merchant and eventually became owner of Ipswich Mills, the largest producer of knit goods in the country, located in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

In 1858 and 1860, he was the Whig candidate for governor of Massachusetts. In 1862, he raised a battalion of cavalry which became the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry, of which Charles Russell Lowell was colonel.[7]

Abolition movement

Lawrence was radicalized by living through the Anthony Burns affair in the spring of 1854: "[W]e went to bed one night old fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs & waked up stark mad Abolitionists."[8] Lawrence became a key figure in the United States abolition movement in the years leading up to the Civil War, during which he contributed large amounts of capital to the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company and John Brown's abolitionism, played a major role in the crucial border state of Kansas (see Bleeding Kansas), and also contributed to funds for the colonization of free negroes in Liberia.[7]

He contributed personally by donating guns, specifically Sharps rifles, which, packed as "books" and "primers", were shipped to Kansas and afterwards came into the hands of Jayhawkers and abolitionists. During the bloodshed in Kansas, Lawrence wrote frequently to President Franklin Pierce (his mother's nephew) on behalf of the free-state settlers. When John Brown was arrested, he appealed to the governor of Virginia to secure for him a lawful trial. He repeatedly urged the necessity of offering no armed resistance to the federal government, and he deplored Brown's fanaticism.[7]

Philanthropy

Lawrence financed the founding of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, a community that was named after him. In 1847, he founded a college that evolved into Lawrence University on 5,000 acres (20 km²) of land that he had purchased in 1844 in the Fox River Valley, Some of the land he purchased became Appleton, Wisconsin, named for his father-in-law. Lawrence also contributed large sums of money to Harvard and the Episcopal Theological School (now Episcopal Divinity School), in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Lawrence Academy, and the Groton School.

His farm outside of Boston became the campus for Boston College. From 1857 to 1862 he was treasurer of Harvard College, and from 1879 to 1885 an overseer.[9]

Personal life

Lawrence's parents were Unitarians, but he converted to Episcopalianism and was confirmed as a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Boston in 1842.[10] He met and married Sarah Elizabeth Appleton (1822–1891) at the church. Sarah, a daughter of U.S. Representative William Appleton and Mary Ann (née Cutler) Appleton, was a relative of Samuel Appleton, a trustee of Massachusetts General Hospital and president of the Young Men's Benevolent Society. Together, Amos and Sarah were the parents of:

• Amory Appleton Lawrence (1848–1912)[9]
• William Lawrence (1850–1941), who became the Bishop of Massachusetts.[11]
• Susan Mason Lawrence (1852–1923)[9]
• Harriet Lawrence Hemenway (1858-1960), who became a co-founder of the Massachusetts Audubon Society.[9]

He died at his summer resort in Nahant, Massachusetts.[2]

Legacy

Amos Adams Lawrence is credited with founding an Episcopal church in Boston, Massachusetts, which prompted many Boston Brahmins to convert from Unitarianism. His son, William Lawrence, took an even more avid interest in the Episcopal church, and became the long-time bishop of Massachusetts.[11]

Descendants

Through his son William he was the grandfather of William Appleton Lawrence (1889–1968), who was elected third Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts,[12] and Frederic Cunningham Lawrence (1899–1989), who was elected suffragan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.[11]

Notes

1. Lawrence, William Richards (ed.). 1855. Extracts from the Diary and Correspondence of the Late Amos Lawrence. Boston: Gould & Lincoln, p. 15.
2. "Amos Lawrence Dead". Lawrence Daily Journal. August 24, 1886. p. 1. Retrieved December 26, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Lee, Laura (ed.). 2001. The Name's Familiar II. Gretna: Pelican, p. 208.
4. Hunt, A.N., Freeman (1858). Lives of American Merchants, Vol. II. New York: Derby & Jackson. pp. 223–386. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
5. Butler, Caleb (1848). History of the Town of Groton: Including Pepperell and Shirley, from the First Grant of Groton Plantation in 1655. Press of T.R. Marvin. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
6. "LAWRENCE, Abbott - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
7.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lawrence, Amos Adams". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 305.
8. James M. McPherson. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Bantam Books, 1989, p. 120.
9. Foster, E. Everton (1916). Lamb's Textile Industries of the United States: Embracing Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and a Historical Resume of the Progress of Textile Manufacture from the Earliest Records to the Present Time. James H. Lamb. p. 275. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
10. Baltzell, E. Digby (1970). Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia. New York: Free Press. p. 366. ISBN 9781412832571.
11. "Dr. Lawrence Dies; Bishop Emeritus". The New York Times. November 7, 1941. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
12. "William Lawrence, Retired Bishop, 79". The New York Times. January 6, 1969. Retrieved March 15, 2018.

References

• Lawrence Townie history
• History of Cottage Farm, Brookline
• Lawrence, William (1888). Life of Amos A. Lawrence, with Extracts from his Diary and Correspondence. Boston.
• Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1892). "Lawrence, Amos" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
• Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Lawrence, Amos Adams" . Encyclopedia Americana.

External links

• Amos Adams Lawrence at Find a Grave

Party political offices
Preceded by Henry Gardner	Know Nothing nominee for Governor of Massachusetts 1858	Succeeded by George N. Briggs
First	Constitutional Union nominee for Governor of Massachusetts 1860	Succeeded by None