Person:Thomas Lawrence (67)

From a biography of his grandson Hershel Porter: “The maternal grandfather, Thomas Lawrence, was a deacon in the Baptist Church. He was also a Revolutionary soldier....Captain Porter moved from Prince Edward county, Virginia, about the year 1794, and settled in what is now Butler county, Kentucky. The maternal grandfather emigrated from the same county in Virginia, but it is not known to the writer at what time.”

THe Kentucky Pension Roll of 1835 lists Thomas Lawrence, Butler County, Sergeant, Virginia Line, $120.00 Annual Allowance, $360.00 Amount Received, November 3, 1832 Pension Started, Age 73.

Served in the 14th VA Inf and its various permutations from Jan 1777 - Feb 1780. In 1783, he received a land warrant for service, in VA - for 200 acres. He bought 100 acres from the Jolley Parrish estate (father-in-law to brother Henry Leighman) in 1787. He appears in Goochland Co. land and tax documents from 1787 to 1795. In his Revolutionary War pension papers filed 10 Aug 1832, he states he moved to Mason Co., KY for a while, and then to Logan Co. He may be the Thos. Larrance who appears on the 1799 tax list in Mason Co. In Dec 1798, a Jesse Laurence signs for a 100 acre survey for himself, and a 200 acre survey for Thomas Laurence in Logan Co. on the Elk Fork, near the Logan Cr. The 200 acres is paid for with the land warrant. Thos. Laurence appears on the 1800 tax list in Logan Co. with 200 acres on the Red R. Thos. appears on the 1803 tax list on "Bill Cr." Evidently in the 1801-03 period, he relocated to the part of Logan Co. that became Butler Co. 1804 and subsequent tax lists have him on the Big Muddy R. His wife died not long after they arrived in Kentucky and he remarried in early 1802. (Lawrence, Moore)

In 1810, Thomas was appointed Justice of the Peace in Logan County. In 1817 he was appointed Trustee of the Sandy Creek Baptist Church. He continued to accumulate land over the years: 200 acre grant in 1807, 160 acres in 1820, purchased 500 acres in 1824, totalling over 1200 acres before his death in 1835.(Moore)

1. ↑ Kentucky Pension Roll of 1835. (Washington, D.C.: Duff Green, 1835).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Lawrence, Steve <slawren999 -@- aol.com>. File: Thomas Porter - Logan Co and Lawrence email.
3. ↑ Moore, Charley. The Henry Lawrence Family.
4.   Cumberland Presbyterian Church Library and Archives.
5. ↑ Age 73 in 1835