Mayor of New York City

Parents: William Thomas Lawrence (d. 1625) and Joane Antrobus (later married John Tuttle) Spouse: Susanna Batchelor (traditionally said to have been born c.1624; her parentage is sometimes given as connected to the Rev. Stephen Bachiler, but documentary proof is lacking) Children: John Lawrence (m. Sarah Cornell Willett), Thomas Lawrence, Joseph Lawrence, Susanna Lawrence (1654–1738) (m. first Mayor Gabriel Minvielle; second Alderman William Smith), Mary Lawrence (m. 1660 William Whittinghame), and other children including Jonathan, Samuel, Isaac, and Nathaniel Kinship: Eighth great-granduncle of the post–World War II Smith generation

Early Life and Migration

John Lawrence sailed from England to New England in 1635 aboard the Planter with his mother, stepfather, and siblings. After brief residence at Plymouth and Ipswich, he removed to Long Island, where he became one of the early English settlers under Dutch jurisdiction. In 1644 he was among the patentees of Hempstead by grant of Governor Willem Kieft, and in 1645 he, his brother William, and others received another patent for Flushing. These grants were confirmed when the English assumed control in 1666.

Mercantile Career and Public Service under Dutch Rule

By the 1650s John Lawrence settled in New Amsterdam, where he engaged in mercantile trade. He owned the vessel Adventurer, with which he traded along the Hudson River and about Long Island. He became a burgher of the city and was regarded with favor by Governor Peter Stuyvesant. In 1663 he was appointed a Commissioner to confer with representatives of the General Court at Hartford on the disputed boundary between New England and New Netherland. In 1664 he purchased an enslaved African for 345 florins, a transaction recorded in city papers.

Officeholding under English Rule

After the English conquest of 1664, Lawrence’s civic career continued. He was appointed an alderman in 1665 and was appointed mayor of New York in 1672. On 12 August 1673, when the Dutch briefly retook the city, Mayor Lawrence surrendered the civic insignia—the seal, mace, and magistrates’ gowns—to the Dutch authorities. His Dutch friends intervened to prevent the plundering of his house, a courtesy not shown to all English officials.

Upon the restoration of English rule in 1674, Governor Andros reestablished municipal government, and Lawrence became deputy mayor. He served on the Governor’s Council in 1674, was again alderman in 1687, and Justice of the Peace for New York in 1689. He sat as one of the Commissioners who tried Jacob Leisler for rebellion in 1691, a proceeding that left lasting divisions in the colony. In the same year he was reappointed to the Governor’s Council and again chosen mayor of New York in 1691. In 1693 he became a Justice of the Supreme Court. A later dispute with Governor Bellomont led to his suspension.

Family and Legacy

John Lawrence and his wife Susanna were the ancestors of several prominent New York families. Their daughter Mary Lawrence married William Whittinghame, a Harvard graduate. Their daughter by this marriage, Mary Whittinghame, noted for her learning and benefactions to Harvard and Yale, married Governor Gurdon Saltonstall of Connecticut, founding the distinguished Saltonstall line.

John Lawrence was one of the earliest English mayors of New York City, serving two non-consecutive terms (1673–1675 and 1691). His ability to retain regard under both Dutch and English rule, and the forbearance shown him by Dutch citizens in 1673, attest to his prudence and character in a politically volatile age. In his will he wrote of his children: “Soe I pray God Bless them as my children & make them His children, by faith and love in Christ Jesus.”