Joseph Lawrence (1786April 17, 1842) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Early life

Joseph Lawrence (father of

George Van Eman Lawrence George Van Eman Lawrence (November 13, 1818 – October 2, 1904) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Biography George Van Eman Lawrence (son of Joseph Lawrence) was born in Washington County, P ...

) was born near Hunterstown, Pennsylvania. He moved with his widowed mother to a farm in

Washington County, Pennsylvania Washington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 209,349. Its county seat is Washington. Washington County is part of the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is ...

, in 1789, and attended the common schools. He engaged in agricultural pursuits.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

He was a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

from 1818 to 1824 and served as 53rd Speaker from December 7, 1819 to December 7, 1822. On December 7, 1819, he was elected speaker with a vote of 56 of 93 representatives voting, out of 94 (other votes were: Phineas Jenks – 21, Rees Hill – 14, Wilson Smith – 1, William Lehman – 1). On December 3, 1822, he was elected speaker with a vote of 65 (other votes were John Gilmore – 23 and Jacob Holgate – 8). In the general election of 1820, he received 3,083 votes.

United States Congress

He was elected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in

1828 Events January–March * January 4 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac succeeds the Comte de Villèle, as Prime Minister of France. * January 8 – The Democratic Party of the United States is organized. * January 22 – Arth ...

to the Twenty-first Congress. He was again a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1834 to 1836. He was nominated for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

in 1836, along with future President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

and others. He served as state treasurer in 1837. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in

1838 Events January–March * January 10 – A fire destroys Lloyd's Coffee House and the Royal Exchange in London. * January 11 – At Morristown, New Jersey, Samuel Morse, Alfred Vail and Leonard Gale give the first public demonstration o ...

to the Twenty-sixth Congress. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress and served until his death in Washington, D.C. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Roads and Canals during the Twenty-seventh Congress.

Other political activities

Lawrence served as chairman of the Democratic convention of PA state legislators in 1824. At the Whig Convention at Wheeling (in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

at the time but now

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

) in 1840, Lawrence was president of the Pennsylvania delegation. He individually introduced all the soldiers who fought in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

who were present at the convention.

Death

His death occurred shortly after 11 am. He had been ill for approximately two weeks prior to death; his eldest son and son's wife died weeks before him.

Memorial

On Monday, April 18, 1842, William Wallace Irwin of Pennsylvania took to the floor of the House of Representatives to announce Lawrence's death. He followed with a eulogy. This was the only business transacted in the House on that day. After customary arrangements, the House adjourned for the day. Lawrence is interred in the

Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...

References

The Political Graveyard

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Joseph 1786 births 1842 deaths Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives People from Washington County, Pennsylvania Speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives State treasurers of Pennsylvania Burials at the Congressional Cemetery Pennsylvania Democratic-Republicans Pennsylvania National Republicans National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century American politicians