Memoir of the Honorable Abbott Lawrence, Prepared for the Aiinnal

M E M O I R O ' ' ' E ' NORABLE ABB '' LA E E O O WR NC , ' RE 'ARE D ' O R ' ' E ‘ aiinn al nximit 65m fi ifl m, ' R E O W I L L I A M ' . S C ' ' , E S ' . E''RAC'ED 'ROM '' E WOR' B' ' ERMISSION O' '' E ''BLIS'E RS ' RIN' E D ' O R ' RI' A' E DIS' RIB' 'ION . 1 856 . M E M O I R . N fol l o wi n I the g pages , we shall endeavor to present a sketch of the life and character of ABBO'' t h LAWRENCE , now that e grave has closed over him , and while his virtues are yet fresh in the memory of his countrymen . The name of LAWRENCE is on e of the earliest to be f found among the Puritan settlers o Massachusetts . L 'ohn awrence , the first emigrant of the name , was 1 635 established in Watertown as early as , and may have come over at the same time with Governor Win hi t hrO . w s p He after ards removed , with wife , to 4 MEMOIR O' n Groton , where he lived to a good old age ; leavi g, at his death , a numerous family of sons and daughters . From o n e of the former was descended the subject o f . L the present memoir His father, Samuel awrence , was a soldier o f the Revolution . On the breaking out - of the war with the mother country , he was among the first to bear arms ; and was on e of the little band of heroes who accompanied Colonel Prescott, and fought ’ by his side at the battle of Bunker s Hill . His regi m ent was accordingly in the hottest of the action ; being stationed at the redoubt, the principal point of attack . It had nearly proved a fatal day to the young soldier, who , besides a wound in the arm , had his hat - , pierced by a musket ball which grazed his temples , off and carried part of the hair . He remained in the 1 778 army till , filling the post of adjutant under R General Sullivan at hode Island . He was a man o f o f o f much firmness character, unblemished integrity , and of such frank and open manners as made him o popular with his t wnsmen . He lived till 1 827 ; lon g ABBO'' A 5 L WRENCE . of enough to receive the best reward a parent, in W itnessing the complete success of his children . His widow survived him eighteen years ; and many s may recall her venerable form , as een by them during her occasional visits to her sons in Boston . As a she mother, had probably greater influence than her husband in forming their characters . She had strict notions of obedience , with deeply seated religious prin ci l es she p , which succeeded in communicating to her ' ' m n children . Her for , to quote the la guage of a ' of descendant, bending over the bed her children in for silent prayer, when she was about leaving them of recol the night, is still among the earliest their lections . A son BBOTT, the fifth , was born in Groton , on the f l 6t h o 1 92 . December, 7 His education , begun at A the district school , was completed at the Groton ca o f demy, which his father had been a trustee for more than thirty years ; and which now , in grateful commemoration of the endowments it has received 6 MEMOIR or a from the m embers of that family , be rs the name of the Lawrence Academy . ’ LAW RENCE s We have few accounts of Mr . earlier d ays . In a passing notice of them in a letter of his A brother mos , written many years after , the writer ' w - says , I ell remember him as the guiding Spirit of the boy s of our neighborhood in breaking through the deep snow -drifts which often blocked up the roads in ' winter . The fearlessness and buoyant disposition thus noticed in the boy were the characteristics of the man in later life . 1808 In , it was resolved to send him to Boston , of and place him in the store his elder brother, Mr . A L mos awrence , who had been for some years esta bl i shed there in business as an importer of English goods . There could have been no better Mentor to - watch over the warm hearted and inexperienced youth , thus drawn from his village obscurity to be thrown m upon the trials and te ptations of the world . It is n un ecessary to speak of the character of this brother, ABBOTT LAWRENCE . 7 n o w so W idely known from a biography which may claim to be on e of the most graceful tributes ever f paid by filial piety to the memory o a parent . A BBOTT was cordially welcomed by his brother , who from that hour watched over his steps in earlier days ’ who with a father s solicitude , and followed his career in later life with feelings of pride and generous sym ' ' . a s pathy My brother came to me my apprentice , ' . A L says Mr mos awrence , in his Diary , bringing his w bundle under his arm , ith less than three dollars firs - in his pocket 'and this was his fortune'. A t rate business lad he was ; but, like other bright lads , needed the careful eye of a senior to guard him from ' the pitfalls he was exposed to . The following year, their brother William came to Boston also, to seek his fortune in the capital of New England . Their father, on i m on this occasion , impressed his three sons the u o f portance of nity, quoting the pertinent language ' A ' Scripture , threefold cord is not quickly broken ; a l a precept which they religiously observed , living 8 MEMOIR or ways together in that beautiful harmony which proved one great source of their prosperity . After somewhat more than five years had elapsed , A L Mr . mos awren ce was so well satisfied with the f A sobriety and diligence o BBOTT , and with his capa city for business , that he proposed to take him into W partnership . He furnished the hole capital , amount — of ing to fifty thousand dollars , the fruits his judi i n cions management since his establishment Boston . The times were by no means encouraging ; for we were then in the midst of our war with England . But every thing seemed to prosper under the prudent f o . L . direction Mr awrence Scarcely , however, had the articles of copartnership been signed , than the Bramble news created a panic that fearfully affected the prices of goods . The stock of the firm depreciated A O to such an extent, that BB TT looked o n himself as already a bankrupt . His brother, touched with his ff distress, o ered at once to cancel the copartnership indentures , and to pay him , moreover, five thousand ABBOTT LAWRENCE . 9 dollars at the end of the year . But ABBOTT had a ow n spirit equal to his , and told his brother that he had taken part with him for better or worse , an d that, w come hat might, he would not swerve from the co n tract . The generosity and manly spirit shown by the two brothers on this occasion gave augury o f the com pl et e success which crowned their operations in after life . But success was still deferred , as things wore a gloomy aspect during the war . Most o f the younger men of the city at this time o n were enrolled in the militia, which was constantly duty , and liable at any moment to be called into active A A service . Mr . BBOTT L WRENCE had joined the inde pendent company of the New - England Guards ; a x cel l en t a oi n t m en t s corps remarked for its e pp , and p commanded by men more than on e of whom after — wards rose to eminence , not, however, in the military f fe w l a w . o n e o profession , but in the He was the of the company he had j oined who remained long enough on duty to entitle them to the bounty of land in the 10 MEMOIR OF ’ West offered by the general government . The soldier s life had something in it captivatin g to the imagination - o f of an ardent, high spirited youth and the profession ff arms , in the present condition of the country, o ered a more Splendid career for enterprise than was to be ’ found in commercial pursuits . With his brother s con t o sent, he proposed to enter the service, and applied the War Department at Washin gton to Obtain a com mission . Happily , before receiving an answer, the news f o peace arrived , and all thoughts of a military life were abandoned . Mr . LAWRENCE used to regard this almost in the light of a providential interposition in his behalf. It was , indeed , the crisis of his fate . The lon g peace which followed condemned the soldier to a n t i inactivity that lef him no laurels to win ; except, h a s deed , such might be gathered from a skirmish with the savages , or from the patient endurance of priva t on ions some distant frontier post . Mr . LAWRENCE was reserved for a happier destiny . O On the return f peace, the two brothers sa w at ABBOTT LAWRENCE .

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