Category: Modern History

John Sterling Lawton, born May 13, 1858 was a descendant of Thomas Lawton who, along with his brother George, emigrated from Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England in 1639 to the newly forming colony on Rhode Island. John was born and raised in Bristol, Rhode Island. By the age of 21 he was a Sergeant in Company D of the 5th Cavalry of […]

Written by: Leo Lawton He was born March 13, 1872 at Independence, Iowa the son of Albert Wheeler Lawton, and grandson of Nathan Lawton the surveyor of a village in Michigan. When asked by the town’s future postmaster the name of the village Nathan remarked he did not know, so the town of Lawton, Michigan was named for him. Nathan […]

The Irish Presence in the History and Place Names of Cuba By Rafael Fernández Moya Jaime Lawton was the owner of several haciendas in the Matanzas region, among them a sugar plantation located in the town of Ceja de Pablo, another called Mercedita, in Lagunillas, and the Hernaní coffee plantation, bought in 1852, located in the Coliseo region. He was […]

Written by: Leo Lawton Henry Ware Lawton was born on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1843, in Ohio. His father, George, traveled to California in 1850 ostensibly to build mining equipment for the gold rush miners, but if the truth be known he may have sought gold himself. In 1852 while George was yet in California his wife died leaving […]

Written by : Leo Lawton Sylvester A. Lawton Died in the Patriot War in Canada. Unmarried Letters written while in prison in Kingston, Canada are preserved by the family. ——————————————————————————————————————————— Book titled Death Notices of Ontario by William D Reid published by Hunterdon House in 1980 page 300. Extracts from Albion, N Y: Kingston, U. C. Spectator January 4th. This […]

Sylvester A Lawton (The Patriot War) Written by: Leo Lawton All information for this article taken from a work written by Frederick T Lawton in 1950 entitled “Thomas Lawton, Immigrant, 1638, Aquidneck (Rhode) Island. Lineage to William Kelsey Lawton, born Aug 5, 1913.” Kingston Fort Henry, 3rd January 1839 . Dr parents I now take my pen to wright you […]

You Must Leave Written by: Leo Lawton March 4, 2011 I doubt there is a person born in South Carolina that doesn’t know December 20, 1860 was Secession Day. The South Carolina Convention voted 169 – 0, “that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other states under the name of United States of America is hereby dissolved.” It […]

The History of Lawtons By Isabelle C. Warner May 1942 This hamlet, in the township of North Collins, was established in the year 1873, by Henry Lawton, father of Florence Lawton Taylor, when the Erie Railroad, which was to run to Jamestown, first went through. It is believed that Mr. Lawton made some advantageous agreement with the railroad authorities so […]