George P. Lawrence

George Pelton Lawrence (May 19, 1859 – November 21, 1917) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts.

George Pelton Lawrence
George P. Lawrence circa 1908[1]
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 1st district
In office November 2, 1897 – March 3, 1913
Preceded by	Ashley B. Wright
Succeeded by	Allen T. Treadway
President of the Massachusetts Senate[1]
In office 1896[2] – 1897
Preceded by	William M. Butler[2]
Succeeded by	George E. Smith[2]
Member of the Massachusetts Senate[1]
In office 1895–1897
Judge of the District Court of North Berkshire[1]
In office 1885–1894
Personal details
Born	May 19, 1859 Adams, Massachusetts
Died	November 21, 1917 (aged 58) New York, New York[3]
Political party	Republican[4]

Early life and education

Born in Adams, Massachusetts,[4] Lawrence graduated from Drury Academy in 1876 and from Amherst College[3] in 1880.[4] Lawrence studied law at the Columbia Law School.[4]

Legal career

Lawrence was admitted to the bar in 1883[4] and commenced practice in North Adams.[4]

Public service

Judgeship

Lawrence was appointed judge of the judicial district of northern Berkshire, County[1] in 1885. Lawrence resigned his judgeship in 1894 upon being elected to the Massachusetts Senate.[4]

Massachusetts Senate

Lawrence served in the senate[1] from 1895 to 1897 and was its President,[1][3] in 1896[2][4] and 1897.[4]

Congressional service

Lawrence was elected as a Republican[4] to the Fifty-fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Ashley B. Wright.[4] Lawrence was reelected to the Fifty-sixth and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from November 2, 1897, to March 3, 1913.[3][4] While in Congress Lawrence was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Fifty-ninth through Sixty-first Congresses).[4]

Post Congressional career

Lawrence was not a candidate for renomination in 1912,[4] and from July 1 to September 17, 1913 was a member of the Massachusetts Public Service Commission.

Death

Lawrence jumped from an eighth-floor window and fell to his death, at the Belmont Hotel, New York, New York;[3] interment was in Hillside Cemetery, North Adams.[4]

See also

• 117th Massachusetts General Court (1896)

References

1. Who's Who in State Politics, 1908, Boston, MA: Practical Politics, 1908, p. 15
2. Coolidge, Henry D. (1921), A Manual for the Use of the General Court for 1921, Boston, MA: The Massachusetts General Court, p. 259
3. "GEORGE P. LAWRENCE JUMPS TO HIS DEATH; Ex-Congressman Leaps from a Window on the Eighth Floor of the Hotel Belmont. ILL WITH NERVOUS TROUBLE Former Representative from Massachusetts Left a Note Asking That Senator Crane Be Notified". The New York Times. November 22, 1917. Retrieved June 13, 2009.
4. US Congress (2005), Biographical directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005 the Continental Congress, September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788, and the Congress of the United States, from the First through the One Hundred Eighth Congresses, March 4, 1789, to January 3, 2005, inclusive, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, p. 1425

Bibliography

• Who's Who in State Politics, 1908 Practical Politics (1908) p. 15.
• United States Congress. "George P. Lawrence (id: L000133)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.