George Pelton Lawrence (May 19, 1859 – November 21, 1917) was a member of the

United States House of Representatives 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 ...

from

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Early life and education

Born in

Adams, Massachusetts Adams is a New England town, town in northern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was ...

, Lawrence was the son of Dr. George C. Lawrence and his wife, Jane E. Pelton, and also the nephew of New York City Congressman Guy Ray Pelton. He graduated from Drury Academy in 1876 and from Amherst College in 1880. Lawrence studied law at the

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

. On June 12, 1889, Pelton married Susannah Hope Bracewell (1866-1914).

Legal career

Lawrence was admitted to the

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in 1883 and commenced practice in North Adams.

Public service

Judgeship

Lawrence was appointed judge of the judicial district of northern Berkshire, County in 1885. Lawrence resigned his judgeship in 1894 upon being elected to the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

Massachusetts Senate

Lawrence served in the senate from 1895 to 1897 and was its

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, in 1896 and 1897.

Congressional service

Lawrence was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

Fifty-fifth Congress The 55th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1897, to M ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Ashley B. Wright. Lawrence was reelected to the Fifty-sixth and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from November 2, 1897, to March 3, 1913. While in Congress Lawrence was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War ( Fifty-ninth through Sixty-first Congresses).

Post Congressional career

Lawrence was not a candidate for renomination in 1912, and from July 1 to September 17, 1913 was a member of the Massachusetts Public Service Commission.

Death

Lawrence jumped from an eighth-floor window and fell to his death, at the Belmont Hotel, New York, New York; interment was in Hillside Cemetery, North Adams.

References

Bibliography

* ''Who's Who in State Politics, 1908'' Practical Politics (1908) p. 15. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, George 1859 births 1917 suicides People from Adams, Massachusetts Suicides by jumping in New York City American politicians who committed suicide Republican Party Massachusetts state senators Presidents of the Massachusetts Senate Amherst College alumni Columbia Law School alumni Massachusetts lawyers Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers