William Beach Lawrence (October 23, 1800 – March 26, 1881) was an American politician and jurist who served as lieutenant governor of
Rhode Island from 1851 to 1852 under Governor
Philip Allen.
Early life
Lawrence was born in New York City to Isaac Lawrence (1768–1841) and Cornelia Ann Beach (1777–1857).[1][2] A member of the
Philolexian Society, he graduated from
Columbia in 1818 and was admitted to the bar in 1823, after studying at
Litchfield Law School.[3]
Career
In 1826, he was appointed
Secretary of Legation for Great Britain, and was made
chargé d'affaires the year after. When he returned to the United States in 1829 he practiced law with
Hamilton Fish, and worked on the executive committee to promote the building of the
Erie Railroad.
In 1850, Lawrence moved to
Rhode Island and was elected as lieutenant-governor of that state the next year. He then became acting governor in 1852, and served in Rhode Island's
constitutional convention as well. After his time in politics, he wrote essays and books about
international law, and he argued a case before the
United States Supreme Court in 1873.[4]
He also wrote a letter to the "Journal des Débats" in 1860 defending slavery for its uplifting of Black slaves under a superior race and criticized the French for their position on abolition by pointing to the imports that France, and the rest of the world, get in cotton from the United States. He became vice-president of the
New York Historical Society in 1836.[5]
Personal life
In 1821, he married Esther Rogers Gracie (1801–1857), daughter of
Archibald Gracie (1755–1829). Together, they had several children, including:[1]
Isaac Lawrence (1828–1919), a democratic candidate for Governor of Rhode Island in 1878[6]
Esther Gracie Lawrence (1872 Chicago - 1976 Hamburg),[7] who first married Dr. W. L. Wheeler. She later married Count Felix Ludwig Eugen von Voß (1856 - 1931)-Gievitz of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.[8] His mother was Elise Gräfin Szapáry c. Szapár (1827 - 1890) [9]
^
abcdGreene, Richard Henry; Stiles, Henry Reed; Dwight, Melatiah Everett; Morrison, George Austin; Mott, Hopper Striker; Totten, John Reynolds; Pitman, Harold Minot; Ditmas, Charles Andrew; Forest, Louis Effingham De; Maynard, Arthur S.; Mann, Conklin (1882).
The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
^W. Bollmann: Gross Gievitz und die Familie von Voss. In: Schriftreihe des Warener Museums und Geschichtsvereins. Waren (Müritz) 1996, H. 9