Amos Adams Lawrence (July 31, 1814August 22, 1886) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and social activist. He was a key figure in the United States
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
movement in the years leading up to the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
and the growth of the
Episcopal Church in Massachusetts. He was instrumental in the establishment of the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
and
Lawrence University
Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducation ...
in
Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh)
is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...
.
Early life
Lawrence was born in
Boston, Massachusetts on July 31, 1814.
[ ] His father,
Amos Lawrence
Amos Lawrence (April 22, 1786 – December 31, 1852) was an American merchant and philanthropist.
Biography
Amos Lawrence was born in Groton, Massachusetts. Lawrence attended elementary school in Groton and briefly attended the Groton Academy. ...
, was a merchant, philanthropist, and member of the prominent Lawrence family.
He was educated at
Groton Academy
Lawrence Academy at Groton is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational college preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, in the United States. Founded in 1792 by a group of fifty residents of Groton and Pepperell, Massachusetts ...
and was graduated at
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
in 1835.
Career
Following his graduation from Harvard, Lawrence entered business for himself as a commission merchant and eventually became owner of
Ipswich Mills, the largest producer of knit goods in the country.
In 1858 and 1860, he was a candidate for governor of
.
Philanthropy
Lawrence financed the founding of the University of Kansas in
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...
, which was named after him.
In 1847, he founded a college that is today Lawrence University on of land that he had purchased in 1844 in the
Fox River Valley. Some of the land he purchased became
Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh)
is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...
, named for his father-in-law.
His farm outside of Boston became the campus for
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
. From 1857 to 1862 he was treasurer of
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
, and from 1879 to 1885 an overseer.
Lawrence also contributed large sums of money to
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, the
Episcopal Theological School
Episcopal may refer to:
*Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church
*Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese
*Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name
** Episcopal Church (United State ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
,
Lawrence Academy, and the
Groton School
Groton School (founded as Groton School for Boys) is a private college-preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. Ranked as one of the top five boarding high schools in the United States in Niche (2021–2022), it is affiliated ...
.
Abolitionism and the Civil War
Lawrence credited the
Anthony Burns affair in the spring of 1854 with radicalizing him and other cotton merchants on the issue of slavery: "
went to bed one night old fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs & waked up stark mad Abolitionists."
James M. McPherson
James Munro McPherson (born October 11, 1936) is an American Civil War historian, and is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University. He received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for '' Battle Cry of ...
. '' Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era''. New York: Bantam Books, 1989, p. 120.
Lawrence contributed large amounts of capital to the
Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company
The New England Emigrant Aid Company (originally the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company) was a transportation company founded in Boston, Massachusetts by activist Eli Thayer in the wake of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed the population of ...
and funds for the colonization of free negroes in
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
.
He donated guns, specifically
Sharps rifle
Sharps rifles are a series of large-bore, single-shot, falling-block, breech-loading rifles, beginning with a design by Christian Sharps in 1848 and ceasing production in 1881. They were renowned for long-range accuracy. By 1874 the rifle wa ...
s, which were shipped to
Jayhawkers
Jayhawkers and red legs are terms that came to prominence in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s; they were adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause during the American Civil War. These gangs we ...
and abolitionists in Kansas as "books" and "primers." During
the bloodshed in Kansas, Lawrence wrote frequently to President
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...
, the husband of Lawrence’s cousin
Jane
Jane may refer to:
* Jane (given name), a feminine given name
* Jane (surname), related to the given name
Film and television
* ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd
* ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...
, on behalf of the free-state settlers.
He also provided funds for the activism and legal defense of John Brown, though he deplored Brown's fanaticism and urged against violent resistance to the federal government. When Brown was
arrested at Harpers Ferry, Lawrence appealed to the Governor of Virginia to secure a lawful trial.
In 1862, he raised a battalion of cavalry which became the
2nd Massachusetts Cavalry, of which
Charles Russell Lowell
Charles Russell Lowell III (January 2, 1835 – October 20, 1864) was a railroad executive, foundryman, and General in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek and was mourned by a number ...
was colonel.
Personal life
In 1842, Lawrence married Sarah Elizabeth Appleton, daughter of
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
William Appleton and Mary Ann (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Cutler) Appleton.
They had four children:
* Amory Appleton Lawrence (1848–1912)
*
William Lawrence (1850–1941), who became the Bishop of Massachusetts.
* Susan Mason Lawrence (1852–1923)
*
Harriet Lawrence Hemenway (1858-1960), who became a co-founder of the Massachusetts Audubon Society.
Descendants
Through his son William, Lawrence was the grandfather of
William Appleton Lawrence (1889–1968), who was elected third Bishop of the
Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts,
and
Frederic Cunningham Lawrence (1899–1989), a
suffragan bishop
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...
of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.
Death and legacy
He died at his summer resort in
Nahant, Massachusetts
Nahant is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,334 at the 2020 census, which makes it the smallest municipality by population in Essex County. With just of land area, it is the smallest municipality by are ...
, in 1886.
Legacy
Lawrence is credited with founding an
Episcopal church in
Boston, Massachusetts, which prompted many
Boston Brahmins to convert from
Unitarianism
Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...
. His son,
William Lawrence, became the long-time Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts.
His alma mater,
Groton Academy
Lawrence Academy at Groton is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational college preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, in the United States. Founded in 1792 by a group of fifty residents of Groton and Pepperell, Massachusetts ...
was later renamed after him. Today, it is the Lawrence Academy at Groton.
Notes
References
Lawrence Townie history* Lawrence, William (1888). ''Life of Amos A. Lawrence, with Extracts from his Diary and Correspondence''. Boston.
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Amos Adams
19th-century American Episcopalians
Bleeding Kansas
Harvard College alumni
Lawrence University
Politicians from Appleton, Wisconsin
People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
People from Groton, Massachusetts
1814 births
1886 deaths
Massachusetts Whigs
19th-century American politicians
University of Kansas people
19th-century American philanthropists
American abolitionists
Christian abolitionists
American people of English descent