CS 71 
 .L42 
 1909 
 Copy 1 
 
 xi^e JaWrer^ce pTii^ 
 

THE LAWRENCE KIN'= 
 
 /^••^III'; mother of Abbott Lawrtnce 
 L * L Lowell, tile new president of Har- 
 vard I'liiversity, was Katharine B. 
 Lawrence, the j'oungest child of Abbott 
 Lawrence and his wife, Katharine Bige- 
 low. She was born in Boston, Feb. 21, 
 1832, married Augustus Lowell. June i, 
 1S54, and passed away, April i, 1895. 
 She was educated in the finest of Boston 
 schools, and in 1849, when Abbott Law- 
 rence was ajipointetl by President Zachary 
 Taylor minister to England, Miss Katha- 
 
 * The Lawrkncu Kin appeared as a signed 
 article on the editorial page of tlie Boston 
 Evening Transcript of January 16, igog, at the 
 time of the election of Mr. Lowell to the Presi- 
 dency uf Harvard University, to succeed Presi- 
 dent Charles W. Eliot. Copies may be obtained 
 by addressing the writer, Rev. .^nson Titus, 10 
 Raymond .\venue, West Somerville, Mass. The 
 Tafl Kin, an article which appeared in similar 
 form in Transcript of March 4. 1909, is of the 
 " Kin Series " and can also be obtained. "The 
 Kin Series " treats of eminent and notable fami- 
 lies who have wrought worthily in former and 
 present day affairs. 
 
rine accompanied him. In this station at 
 London Mr. Lawrence remained until 
 October, 1852. These three years in 
 London not only were of large value to 
 the United States and all the affairs which 
 concerned the two great English speaking 
 nations, but to the girl entering upon 
 womanhood they were years of increasing 
 knowledge, of wider acquaintance and 
 falmiliarity with world-wide activities. 
 Mi.ss Katharine played no small part in 
 the entertainments at their London house, 
 and with a wise foresight and graceful tact 
 made herself a most valuable a.ssistant to 
 her parents. Returning to Boston in 1852, 
 she brought a greater admiration for New 
 England and all which made her nation 
 strong. She was a patriot in her love for 
 her native land, and was not backward in 
 its exemplification. 
 
 In 1854, when twenty-two years of age, 
 she became the bride of Augustus Lowell, 
 a man every way suited to her beautiful 
 character and exemplary life. Not long 
 after their marriage the health of her hon- 
 ored father began to fail, and in August, 
 1855, occurred his death. Abbott Law- 
 rence was born in Groton in 1792, the son 
 
3 
 
 of Major vSaimiel Lawrence. From the 
 father lie iuherited an integrity and loy- 
 alty to principle which made the latter 
 eminent during the years of the American 
 Revolution. Abbott and his older brother, 
 Amos Lawrence, when young men, came 
 to Boston, and in a modest way began 
 business, having served apprenticeship 
 with older firms. 
 
 In 1814 their place of business was at 
 No. 15 Market street (now Cornhill), "on 
 the north side of the alley leading down 
 the steps to Brattle Street Church." After- 
 wards the firm removed to No. 11 Liberty 
 square, and soon to " Lawrence Block," on 
 Milk street. By 1830 this mercantile house 
 ranked with the ablest and best. Their in- 
 terests reached rapidly towards the cotton 
 mills of Lowell and Lawrence, which from 
 that time forth have been famous. Amos 
 Lawrence retired early from active busi- 
 ness, and after many benefactions to Wil- 
 liams and other colleges, died in December, 
 1852; and his son, Amos Adams Lawrence, 
 with Lawrence business sagacity, after a 
 training at Harvard College, became a 
 captain of industry and an ardent lover of 
 education and of human rights. He was 
 
4 
 
 the founder of Lawrence Universitj', Apple- 
 ton, Wis. (his wife was Sarah Appletou), 
 a benefactor of many interests in Law- 
 rence, Kan., for manj- 3'ears treasurer of 
 the Episcopal Theological vSchool at Cam- 
 bridge, and a half-donor of Lawrence Hall. 
 His benefactions were numerous. 
 
 Abbott Lawrence entered into partner- 
 ship with his brother Amos in 1814. He 
 rendered valued service to the Government 
 during the war of i Si 2- 15, and the war 
 was no sooner over than he sailed for Man- 
 chester, Eng., attending to an important 
 negotiation. He immediately returned and 
 sold his newly purchased goods at a large 
 profit. Thereafter he made other business 
 trips to England and the Continent. The 
 firm soon became interested in the Suffolk, 
 Lawrence and Tremont cotton mills com- 
 panies. Increasing business cares did not 
 prevent him from public duties. He served 
 Boston in its Council chamber and was in 
 Congress at Washington for a term. He 
 was one of a committee to determine the 
 "northeastern boundary" between Maine 
 and Canada, and was active with Mayor 
 Quincy in introducing Cochituate water 
 into Boston in 184S. In 1S47 he founded 
 
5 
 the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard 
 University, and as his last service after de- 
 clining the offices of Secretar}- of the Navy 
 and Secretary of the Interior, he accepted 
 the post of minister to England. He died 
 in 1855. The highest encomiums were 
 paid to his memory by those who knew 
 him best, and the many who knew of his 
 gracious bounties. His character shone 
 forth and became ideal in the minds of 
 business men and lovers of mankind. 
 
 The record of the descendants of Major 
 Samuel Lawrence was published a few 
 years ago by Dr. Robert Means Lawrence 
 of Boston. This history enters in a most 
 modest wa}' into the family history, and 
 in many instances more could have been 
 written concerning its members. The sons 
 of the family have most loyally attached 
 themselves to Harvard University, as 
 members of the student body, not forget- 
 ting their alma mater in the years follow- 
 ing. The daughters of the family have 
 been carefully educated in the public and 
 private schools of Boston, Cambridge, and 
 Brookline. 
 
 The family has been faithful to Law- 
 rence Academy at Groton, and no small 
 
factor in making it an eminent fitting 
 school. Among the descendants of Major 
 Samuel Lawrence who are kinsmen of 
 Abbott Lawrence Lowell, the newly hon- 
 ored man of Harvard University, we recall 
 Dr. Samuel Abbott Green, the honored 
 librarian of the Massachusetts Historical 
 Society and formerly mayor of Boston ; 
 Bishop William Lawrence, for a series of 
 years rendering parochial services, then 
 professor in the Theological School at 
 Cambridge, and the man among man)' to 
 be regarded as able to bear the duties of 
 bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 in Massachusetts, succeeding the much la- 
 mented Phillips Brooks. The late Francis 
 William Lawrence was deeply interested in 
 the New England Conservatory of I\Insic, 
 and his chief personal delight was found in 
 his service for the Church of Our Savior, 
 Longwood. Arthur Lawrence, Harvard, 
 1863, went into the Union Army, and after 
 training in a theological school and in 
 parochial service in New York city, became 
 rector in 1872 of St. Paul's Church, Stock- 
 bridge, where he renders quiet and effec- 
 tive service for the Church, refusing in- 
 ducements to enter upon its more engross- 
 
/ 
 ing affairs. Abbott Lawrence Rotch, Mas- 
 sachusetts Institute of Technology, 1884, 
 is a student of Meteorology of no mean re- 
 pute and founder of Blue Hill Meteoro- 
 logical Observatory. The ability of Aniory 
 Appleton Lawrence, elder brother of the 
 Bishop, in the world of business reflects 
 the e.Kecutive skill of their eminent grand- 
 father. Dr. I^obert Means Lawrence of 
 Harvard, 1869, and the Medical School, 
 1873, after extensive journeys in home and 
 foreign lands in investigating problems as 
 only a physician can, settled at bis country 
 seat in Le.xington. He is a member of the 
 leading literary societies, and his publica- 
 tions are of large value and interest. 
 
 The names of the Lawrence family of 
 no distant kinship with President Lowell 
 are numerous, and yet other names are 
 equally known to the business, literary 
 and social circles. The intermarriages 
 are not without interest. The names in- 
 clude Adams, Appleton, Amory, Rigelow, 
 Brooks, Cunningham, Loring, Peabody, 
 Hemenway, Saltonstall and Silsbee. To be 
 well born and nurtured is a fine thing. The 
 high encomiums paid the newly honored 
 member of the family are just what a per- 
 
son would expect, and which people have a 
 right to look for. A noble ancestry and 
 association with cultured and sturdy men 
 and women should produce the noblest 
 type of citizens. 
 
 The Transcript of Aug. i8, 1905, had the 
 following brief tribute from an esteemed 
 correspondent, J. E. T. : "Just fifty years 
 ago today Boston lost one of her most 
 prominent citizens and this country one of 
 the noblest men it has ever produced. Not 
 a line is necessary to eulogize his memory. 
 His name is sufficient. It was Abbott 
 Lawrence." 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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