William Lawrence of Newtown

William Lawrence (1623 - 1701)

William Lawrence, parents unknown, was born about 1623 in England, and died 1701 in Middletown, Monmouth County, Province of New Jersey. Deputy to the first legislative Assembly of New Jersey in 1669.

• Not the same as William Lawrence of Flushing
• Evidence needed to support as child of Henry Lawrence & Amy Peyton

He gets confused with a contemporary William Lawrence (1622 - 1680) from St. Albans, Herefordshire, England, passenger of the Planter, who lived at Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony then Flushing, Queens County, New York.

William Lawrence was one of the original settlers (patentees) of Monmouth County. [7] In 1665 Royal Governor Richard Nichols of New York gave 12 men lands in the Monmouth Tract of New Jersey and the rights to build there with the understanding that 100 families would settle these lands within three years. William Lawrence came from Long Island to Middletown. [8]

William Lawrence was supposed to have moved from Newtown, Long Island, to Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey, and who died in 1703.

Disambiguation

NOTE: William Lawrence of Flushing (College Point) has been confused with two other contemporary men named William Lawrence who lived on the western end of Long Island. They were:

1. William Lawrence of Newtown (present-day Elmhurst, Queens County, New York), with wife Elizabeth (possibly a daughter of Richard Gildersleeve), who later moved to Monmouth County, New Jersey and as a resident there referred to land he held in Newtown.

2. William Lawrence of Gravesend (Gravesend, Queens County, New York).

Notably, William Lawrence of Flushing (married Elizabeth Smith) did not live in New Jersey.

Family

William LAWRENCE [Sr.] m. (probably 1st), before Feb 1664, to Elizabeth ____; they resided in Middleborough [Newtown], Long Island, NY, and in Middletown, Monmouth Co., NJ; their children:

• i. William [Jr.], b. about 1658, d. 1750, m. Ruth GIBBONS; [#3]
• ii. Hannah, b. about 1660, m. 1st Joseph GROVER, m. 2nd Nathaniel LEONARD;
• iii. Benjamin, b. 1664, d. 1755, m. Mary COX; [#4]
• iv. Elisha [Sr.], b. 17 Feb 1666, d. 25 Apr 1724, m. Lucy STOUT.
• v. John, b. 1668, d. 1719, m. Rachel ____;
• vi. Joseph, b. about 1670, d. 1743, m. 1st Sarah WORTH, m. 2nd Rachel (FOLKE) CURTIS;
• vii. James, b. about 1675, d. 1730, m. Mehitable ALBURTIS.

William LAWRENCE [Sr.] m. last, about Nov 1693, to Elizabeth (SCUDDER) ALBURTIS (daughter of John SCUDDER; widow of Jan "John" ALBURTIS (d. about 1691)).

William Lawrence [Sr.,] and his first wife had seven or eight children: one daughter (Hannah) and six sons (James, William, Benjamin, Elisha, John, and Joseph).

Came To Monmouth County, NJ With Brownes, Stouts.Assigned Lot 31 In Middletown, NJ

Notes

I believe the father of your Benjamin Lawrence is William Lawrence born 1638 in England, died a few days before May 22, 1704 in Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ. That's when his will was proved. I don't know his wife's name. He is often confused with William Lawrence , the brother of John and Thomas Lawrence , the sons of Joan Antrobus Lawrence Tuttle. Your William Lawrence had six sons, James, William, esq, Benjamin, Elisha, Lt, Joseph and John. The following are the notes from my computer file on him: "William came to America from England in 1666 according to book, "First Families of America". William came to Long Island, New York from England ca 1660; to N.J., 1666 according to the book, "Immigrant Ancestors" (Also states: m 2d, 1693, Elizabeth Scudder (b 1648). widow of Jan Alburtus.)

Estate Executors: sons William and Elisha Witnesses: Margreet (sic) Hartshorne, John Stout, Richard Hartshorne and John Clenenger. Will signed Dec. 8, 1701 proved may 22, 1704. Will abstract has his name as: "Lauarence, William, sinour" (Had property at Barnegat.)

William was "Deputy to first Legislative Assembly" 1669-1672, and was Burgess at Middletown, NJ in 1671.

Get in touch with Derek Hartshorn at He is a descendant as well, and has written a book on the Lawrence family."

source: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2591465&...

From https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/LZLH-KQV

Notes
Contains a 40 page history of this gentleman and his children and near descendants arranged by families. William Lawrence had 2 wives: Mrs. Elizabeth ___? Lawrence and 2nd wife Elizabeth Scudder. He had 8 children by his first wife: JAMES, WILLIAM, BENJAMIN, ELISHA, JOHN, JOSEPH, HANNAH, ELIZABETH. William I's son James md. his stepsister Mehitable Alburtis. Two errors on page 396. Elizabeth Scudder (Alburtis) Lawrence's father John Scudder was of Horton Kirby, Kent, not London. Elizabeth Scudder and husband John Alburtis had only 4 children: John, Elizabeth, Samuel and Mehitable. The proof that the 1st wife was an Elizabeth, (surname unknown), lies in the deed books of Newtown, L.I. and Monmouth, N.J. Do not confuse with other families with similar names.

Hannah Lawrence was listed as the 7th child of William Lawrence I and his first wife, name not known, so let's call her Mrs. William Lawrence to give her an identity. This source lists Hannah's children by her 1st husband Joseph Grover and 2nd husband Nathaniel Leonard and some grandchildren. (Please do not confuse him with a different Nathaniel Leonard of a later generation.) Some have tried to give Hannah the wrong mother's given name, but land records of Middletown, N. J., make clear that her first name was Elizabeth–surname not known. (Some mistakenly thought she was a Gildersleeve, but she married someone else. More recent professional research clarifies that it was not Gildersleeve). Others try to give Hannah's mother the name Hannah Townsend, but Dr. Stillwell on page 485 states: "William Lawrence is reputed to have married Hannah Townsend, but I have never seen an atom of proof to substantiate it." (There probably was no such person as Hannah Townsend.) And that latter theory is contradicted by the fact that the 1st wife of William Lawrence had a first name of Elizabeth.

References

• John Edwin Stillwell, "Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: data pertaining to the settlement and settlers of New York and New Jersey," v. 3, (New York: 1903), 404. Family of this Hannah Lawrence in John. E. Stillwell, "Historical and Genealogical Miscellany...of New Jersey," v. 3, 404. https://archive.org/details/historicalgeneal03instil
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=85706704 Elizabeth Scudder, widow of Jan Alburtis, married William Lawrence, Sr. as her second husband. He was from Monmouth County, NJ. His will proved May 22, 1704. Her death date is an estimate, not proven.
• The Scudder Family of Trenton, by Moses Bigelow, 1948, Somerset Press
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/family/K6HJ-CV7

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Came to America in 1635 with his brothers.