Thomas LAWRENCE, MAJOR

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S.R. Durand:
Major Thomas Lawrence was one of three brothers who came to America. Their father, Thomas Lawrence, died March 20, 1625, and their mother remarried in 1627 to John Tuthill.  They brought their children to America in 1635 and settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The family had sailed in April of 1635 on the ship Planter with Governor John Winthrop Jr., who was being sent by Henry Lawrence, Lord [sic.] Say and Seal, Lord Brooke, and others to be governor of their colony in Connecticut.  It is of interest to know something about the two brothers of Thomas, John and William Lawrence, for they became prominent citizens on Long Island before Thomas went there.
The Lawrence brothers, with their mother, her second husband John Tuthill, and their two sisters landed at Plymouth and settled at Ipswich, where they remained.  During the Indian troubles of the next few years, the Lawrence brothers stayed in Ipswich to help protect the many women and children in the settlement, rather than going to Fort Saybrook, which was practically a military garrison.  About 1640, John at age 22 and William at age 16 went to Long Island, and John was among the patentees of Hempstead.  The next year they received a patent from the Dutch governor, William Kieft, for Flushing, Long Island, where John established his residence.  Later, in 1665, after the English had captured New Netherlands from the Dutch, he was the Mayor of New York and on the council [?] for many years.  In 1672, he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court, on which he served until his death in 1699.
Our ancestor, Thomas Lawrence, was baptized March 8, 1620 at Great St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England.  He had joined his brothers at Flushing, Long Island by 1645, when he was twenty-five years of age.  On August 24, 1651, he was arrested at New Haven because he possessed money from Governor Stuyvesant, which the New England authorities claimed.  In 1655 he joined with his brothers in obtaining a patent for Middleburgh, afterwards named Newtown, Long Island, and he settled there the following year.  He is recorded as the owner of two lots there on July 10, 1662. On August 23, 1665, he received a license to purchase of the Indians Round Island near Hellgate, about 8 or 9 acres of land.  His name is recorded in this license as Captain Thomas Lawrence, and the purchase of this island was confirmed by the governor in 1667.  On March 14, 1669, he was one of the road surveyors in Newtown.  In September of 1675, he is recorded as having at Newtown 40 acres of land,  2 horses, 4 oxen, 8 cows, 12 young cattle, and 8 swine.  Three years later in 1678 he had 4 persons, 40 acres, 10 horses, 2 oxen, 8 cows, 22 young cattle, 20 sheep and 12 swine.  In December of 1677, he had received a patent for Anneke Jan's farm on Hellgate Neck.  Subequently he purchased all the land from Hell Gate Cove to Bowery Bay, consisting of four large farms and several pieces of pasture and woodland.  On December 30, 1689, he was commissioned by Governor Jacob Leisler, as Major of the Horse for the Company of Queen's County.  In February 1690, he was trusted with raising the troops in Queen's County to aid in defending Albany against the French.  Later, he was ordered to proceed to Southold with his militia force to protect his majesty's subjects against attacks by French cruisers.
It is not known who Major Thomas Lawrence's first wife was.  They had five sons:  Thomas, William, John, Jonathan, and Daniel; and one daughter, Elizabeth, who married John Saunders on July 26, 1683.  Of the sons, our ancestor John alone remained at Newtown and founded the most eminent branch of the Lawrence family in America.
Major Thomas Lawrence married second Mary Ferguson on November 9, 1692.  His will was made February 5, 1703, and proved April 25 of that year.
In the late summer of 1999 I heard from Ray Sims, a gentleman from Oregon, whose wife was a Lawrence descendant.  He soon sent me a copy of his recently completed book, My wife is a Lawrence.  This book details his wife's line coming from the immigrant ancestor John Joseph Lawrence, who was born about 1610 in Wisset, Suffolk, England.  He writes:
Family states that it is supposed that John came to this country early in 1635 on the ship Planter having received a certificate from the minister of Great St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England.  He was among the early settlers of New England, in Watertown, Mass between 1630 and 1635, probably with his father and wife, Elizabeth... According to the history of Groton - Pepperell - Shirley, County of Middlesex, Mass., this Lawrence family came with or about the same time as Governor Winthrop in 1630, who landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts.  The Reverend John Lawrence, a Memoriam, reports a
different happening.  It states that the Lawrence parties were probably on the ship Arbella which arrived in Salem in June of 1630.  They then traveled about four miles up the Charles River from Charlestown, and established the settlement, the fourth in the colony, that became the town of Watertown.
In all cases, it appears that the John Lawrence Mr. Sims describes cannot be the same John Lawrence who was the brother of our ancestor, Major Thomas Lawrence.  Mr. Sims' book documents the progress of his John Lawrence's line through Vermont, and thereafter westward through Illinois, North Dakota, Idaho, and to Oregon, where he and his wife resided.  The puzzling parts are the references to both parties of Lawrences accompanying Governor John Winthrop to Massachusetts.  Since Bampo's account specifies Governor John Winthrop, Jr., it could be that they sailed with the original governor's son.  Nonetheless, Mr. Sims' book leaves undetermined the exact time and vessel of emigration of his John Lawrence.  However, his book does detail the earliest known parts of the Lawrence line, which further back coincide with the one detailed by my grandfather.
Facts about this person:
Baptism   March 08, 1619/20
St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England
Emigration     June 07, 1635
Boston, Suffolk Co., MA
Record Change  October 25, 1999