Location and Description

The Lawrence Family Cemetery is located at the corner of 216th Street and 42nd Avenue in Bayside, Queens, New York. It is one of three family burial grounds historically owned by the Lawrences in Queens, of which two still survive. The cemetery occupies part of the land originally deeded to John Lawrence (1618–1699) and his younger brother William Lawrence (1622–1680) in 1645 by Governor Willem Kieft of New Netherland.

Historical Background

John Lawrence, one of the original grantees of the land on which the cemetery stands, served as Mayor of New York City in the late seventeenth century, holding office in 1672 and again in 1691. For many generations the Lawrences used part of the property as a family picnic ground known as “Pine Grove,” a name that reflects the wooded setting that once characterized the area.

Burials

There are between forty and fifty graves within the cemetery grounds. Interments began in 1832 and continued until 1939. Among those buried there are notable members of the Lawrence family, including:

• Cornelius W. Lawrence, Mayor of New York City • Judge Effingham Lawrence • Frederick Newbold Lawrence • Mary Nicolls Lawrence, second wife of Mayor Andrew H. Mickle

The cemetery provides a small but significant record of a family whose members were deeply entwined with the history of New York from the seventeenth century onward.

Landmark Designation and Preservation

The Lawrence Family Cemetery was designated a New York City Landmark on August 2, 1967. The site is currently managed by the Bayside Historical Society. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, in its 1967 designation, described the cemetery as “an important and impressive small burial plot situated in a tree-shrouded landscaped enclosure” containing “handsome headstones marking the last remains of the descendants and heirs of a Seventeenth Century New York family associated with the historical, political and cultural growth of our City and our Country.”