Wolcott Lawrence (November 1, 1786 — April 29, 1843) was an American jurist, businessman, and politician who served multiple terms on the

Michigan Territorial Council The Michigan Territorial Council, known formally as the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, was the legislative body of the Territory of Michigan from 1824 to 1835, when it was succeeded by the Michigan Legislature in anticipation o ...

Biography

Wolcott Lawrence was born November 1, 1786, in a town near

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...

. He received a rural education and did not attend college, but studied law in the office of a prominent Pittsfield lawyer and eventually practiced law himself. In 1817, shortly after their wedding, Lawrence and his wife moved to

Monroe, Michigan Monroe is the largest city in Monroe County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 20,462 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomously. M ...

, and established a home on the

River Raisin The River Raisin (, 'River of Sturgeon') is a river in southeast Michigan, United States, that flows in a generally easterly direction through Ice age, glacial sediments before emptying into Lake Erie. The River Raisin drainage basin covers app ...

. His law practice was slow at first due to the sparse population of the area, but grew as the population grew. He gradually shifted his attention away from law towards the lumber and mercantile businesses as well as management of his real estate investments. When the government of the

Territory of Michigan The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

was restructured to include a new legislative council, Lawrence was one of the top 18 vote-earners in a general election. Those names were sent to President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

, who selected nine, including Lawrence, to form the

First Michigan Territorial Council The First Michigan Territorial Council was a meeting of the legislative body governing Michigan Territory, known formally as the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan. The council met in Detroit in two regular sessions between June ...

in 1824. He continued to serve on the council until 1831, and was chairman of the judiciary committee for the entire time. Following

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

's statehood, in 1836 he was appointed an associate justice of the Monroe County circuit court, and served until 1839. Lawrence died in Monroe on April 29, 1843.

Family

Lawrence married Caroline Stebbins, of

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

, on November 28, 1816. Their eldest child, Lucretia Williams, was born in Monroe in December 1817, and was the first child born to American parents in the otherwise largely French community. Lucretia later married

Alpheus Felch Alpheus Felch (September 28, 1804June 13, 1896) was the fifth governor of Michigan and U.S. Senator from Michigan. Early life Felch was born in Limerick (in modern-day Maine, then a part of Massachusetts). He was left an orphan at the age of th ...

, a future

governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of government of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-ele ...

and

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Wolcott 1786 births 1843 deaths Members of the Michigan Territorial Legislature