Early Life and Family Background Edward Newbold Lawrence was born in 1805 into the Flushing branch of the Lawrence family, descended from John Lawrence, the seventeenth-century settler, and connected through marriage with the Newbolds, Townsends, Hickses, and other Long Island Quaker families. His mother, Hannah Newbold, belonged to the respected Newbold family of New Jersey, whose Philadelphia and Burlington County branches intermarried frequently with Quaker mercantile families.

Marriage and Residence He married his first cousin, Lydia Ann Lawrence, daughter of John L. Lawrence of Bayside. Their only child, Frederick Newbold Lawrence, was born in 1834. Lydia survived her husband by forty years. She did not remarry and remained closely connected with the Lawrence family circle. She died in 1879 and is buried in the Lawrence Cemetery.

Career Edward headed the mercantile commission firm Lawrence, Keese & Co., a New York importing house active in the 1830s.

The Firm of Lawrence, Keese & Co. The firm of Lawrence, Keese & Co. was a New York mercantile and commission house active in the 1830s, dealing largely in imported goods and shipping consignments between New York and Liverpool. The firm appears in contemporary commercial directories among reputable houses engaged in the Atlantic trade. The Keese partner was of the New York Quaker mercantile family connected by marriage to allied Long Island families, and the partnership reflected long-standing commercial ties between the Lawrences, the Keeses, and other Quaker-descended trading houses.

Family Silver Tankard A silver tankard made about 1750 by Joseph Richardson of Philadelphia was sold at Sotheby’s. It bears the Lawrence arms and the initials of Edward Newbold Lawrence, his wife Lydia Ann Lawrence, and their son Frederick Newbold Lawrence. It was likely engraved for Frederick’s coming of age, perhaps as a twenty-first birthday gift in 1855.

Death Edward Newbold Lawrence died at Liverpool, England, on 21 October 1839, aged thirty-four. His death occurred while abroad, probably on business, as Liverpool was then a major port linking New York and England. He was buried in the Lawrence family cemetery.

The inscription on his footstone in the Lawrence Cemetery reads:

In Memory of Edward Newbold Lawrence, who departed this life at Liverpool, England, on the 21st day of October, 1839, in the 35th year of his age. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.