Nathaniel Lawrence (July 11, 1761 – July 15, 1797) was an American lawyer and politician.

Life

He was the son of Thomas Lawrence (1733—1816; brother of Jonathan Lawrence) and Elizabeth (Fish) Lawrence. He attended

Princeton College Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

, but left to fight in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

. In 1788, he was a delegate to the New York State Convention which ratified the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...

. He was Secretary to the Board of Regents of the

University of the State of New York The University of the State of New York (USNY, ) is the state of New York's governmental umbrella organization for both public and private institutions in New York State. The "university" is not an educational institution: it is, in fact, a lic ...

from 1790 to 1794. He was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1791, 1792, 1795 and 1796. He was

New York State Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government o ...

from 1792 to 1795. He was a member of the New York Society Library, which has records of books he borrowed in 1791 and 1792. On February 16, 1796, he was appointed Assistant Attorney General for the First District, comprising Suffolk, Queens, Kings,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and Westchester Counties, and died in office. He married Elizabeth Berrien (1762–1800; aunt of John M. Berrien), and they had two daughters: Margaret Elizabeth Lawrence who married

Philip Lindsley Philip Lindsley (1786–1855) was an American Presbyterian minister, educator and classicist. He served as the acting president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) from 1822 to 1824, and as the first president of the now-defun ...

, and Elizabeth Lawrence who died in infancy.

References

Sources

*“Nathaniel Lawrence” (class of 1783), ''Princetonians, 1776-1783'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981), 425-29, 433.
History of Queens CountyNathaniel Lawrence
at Haley Lawrence genealogy ives July 15 as death datebr>Google Books
''The New York Civil List'' compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858; pages 36, 166, 169 and 287)
''History of Long Island''
by Benjamin Franklin Thompson (New York City, 1839; page 426)
Death notice
original from the ''New York Journal'', republished in ''Queens County in Olden Times'' by Henry Onderdonk Jr. (Jamaica, NY, 1865; page 87) ives July 5 as death date {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Nathaniel 1761 births 1797 deaths People from Hempstead (village), New York New York State Attorneys General Queens County (New York) District Attorneys Members of the New York State Assembly Princeton University alumni People from Elmhurst, Queens 18th-century American politicians