William Lawrence was a member of the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from the 17th District of Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. Lawrence was born in Washington

Old Washington, Ohio

Old Washington is a village in Guernsey County, Ohio, United States. The population was 265 at the 2000 census.-History:In July 1863, Old Washington was the site of a small engagement during the course of Morgan's Raid...

, Guernsey County, Ohio

Guernsey County, Ohio

Guernsey County is a county located in the state of Ohio. As of 2010, the population was 40,087. Its county seat is Cambridge and is named for the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel, from which many of the county's early settlers came....

. He was graduated from Jefferson College (now Washington & Jefferson College

Washington & Jefferson College

Washington & Jefferson College, also known as W & J College or W&J, is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, in the United States, which is south of Pittsburgh...

) in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

Canonsburg is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Pittsburgh. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 1802....

 in 1835.

After farming

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 for a few years, Lawrence was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives

Ohio House of Representatives

The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate....

 in 1843. He was a Presidential elector in 1848 for Cass

Lewis Cass

Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...

/Butler

William Orlando Butler

William Orlando Butler was a U.S. political figure and U.S. Army major general from Kentucky. He served as a Democratic congressman from Kentucky from 1839 to 1843, and was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee under Lewis Cass in 1848.-Early life:Butler was born in Jessamine County, Kentucky,...

. He was a delegate to the Ohio State constitutional convention

Constitutional convention (political meeting)

A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...

 in 1851. From 1856 to 1857, he served in the Ohio Senate

Ohio Senate

The Ohio State Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly, the legislative body for the U.S. state of Ohio. There are 33 State Senators. The state legislature meets in the state capital, Columbus. The President of the Senate presides over the body when in session, and is currently Tom...

.

On March 4, 1857, William Lawrence (D)

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 was inaugurated as the Representative from the 17th Congressional District of Ohio to the 35th U.S. Congress. Lawrence served only in this Congress, as he was elected only to one term in office. Upon leaving Congress, Lawrence served again in the Ohio Senate (in 1867, 1885, and 1886). He also served as president of the board of directors of the Ohio Penitentiary

Ohio Penitentiary

The Ohio Penitentiary, also known as the Ohio State Penitentiary, or less formally, the Ohio Pen or State Pen, was a prison operated from 1834-1983 in downtown Columbus, Ohio, in what is now known as the Arena District. The prison housed 5,235 prisoners at its peak in 1955...

.

William Lawrence died in Old Washington, Ohio

Old Washington, Ohio

Old Washington is a village in Guernsey County, Ohio, United States. The population was 265 at the 2000 census.-History:In July 1863, Old Washington was the site of a small engagement during the course of Morgan's Raid...

 on September 8, 1895, and is interred at the Washington Cemetery.

Lawrence was father of Ohio Attorney General

Ohio Attorney General

The Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio Attorney General is Mike DeWine.-History:...

 James Lawrence

James Lawrence (Ohio politician)

James Lawrence was a Democratic politician from the state of Ohio. He was Ohio Attorney General 1884-1886....

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