Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence (February 28, 1791 – February 20, 1861) was an American politician from New York. He became the first popularly elected mayor of New York City after the law was changed in 1834. He also served briefly as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early life

Lawrence was born in

Flushing, New York Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

, on February 28, 1791. He was a cousin of

Effingham Lawrence Effingham Lawrence (March 2, 1820 – December 9, 1878) was an American politician known for serving for the shortest term in congressional history, serving—along with George A. Sheridan—for just one day in the U.S. House of Representat ...

and was a descendant of John Lawrence and

John Bowne John Bowne (1627–1695), the progenitor of the Bowne family in America, was a Quaker and an English settler residing in the Dutch colony of New Netherland. He is historically significant for his struggle for religious liberty. Background Born i ...

, both

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

and pioneer English settlers of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. Lawrence attended the public schools and worked on his father's farm.

Business career

He moved to New York City in 1812 to embark on a business career, first at the Shotwell, Hicks & Co. auctioneering firm, and later as a partner in the wholesale dry goods firm of Hicks, Lawrence & Co.

Career

Lawrence was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, serving from March 4, 1833, to May 14, 1834, when he resigned, becoming mayor of New York (1834–1837). He also served as director in several banks and trust companies and, was president of the Bank of the State of New York for more than 20 years. From 1845 to 1849, Lawrence served as

Collector of the Port of New York The Collector of Customs at the Port of New York, most often referred to as Collector of the Port of New York, was a federal officer who was in charge of the collection of import duties on foreign goods that entered the United States by ship at ...

Personal life

He had a son, James Ogden Lawrence (died August 1, 1904).

Death and burial

Lawrence died in Flushing (the same place he was born in) on February 20, 1861, 8 days shy of his 70th birthday. He was interred in the family burying ground in

Bayside, New York Bayside is a neighborhood located in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone, Queens, Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston, Queens, ...

.The Lawrence Cemetery
Home page
, accessed August 15, 2012

References

External links

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at The Political Graveyard {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Cornelius Mayors of New York City 1791 births 1861 deaths American politicians of Dutch descent Collectors of the Port of New York Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century mayors of places in New York (state) People from Flushing, Queens Politicians from Queens, New York 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives