Lawrence, John Burling I (1774–1844)

1774–1844

Parents: John Lawrence (1732–1794) and Ann Burling (1735–1821).
Spouse: Hannah Newbold (1792–1832).
Children: Edward Newbold Lawrence (1805–1839), George Newbold Lawrence (1806–1895), Newbold Lawrence (1810–1885), Alfred Newbold Lawrence (1813–1884), John Burling Lawrence II (1817–1887), and Thomas Newbold Lawrence (1820–1889).
Kinship: Fourth great-grandfather of the post–World War II Smith generation.

Biography:

John Burling Lawrence was born in 1774 into a well-established New York Quaker mercantile family. In the late 1790s he became associated with the business founded in 1781 by his brother-in-law, Jacob Schieffelin, and by the early 1800s he entered into partnership, after which the firm became known as Lawrence & Schieffelin. This firm evolved into one of New York’s oldest and most enduring commercial houses, later known as Schieffelin & Co.

With Jacob Schieffelin, he played a leading role in the development of Manhattanville. Beginning in the first decade of the nineteenth century, the two men acquired and subdivided land on the Hudson River, laid out the village plan, and encouraged commercial and residential growth. The enterprise established the foundation of Manhattanville as a distinct community within New York.