17 Facts About Abbott Lawrence

Abbott Lawrence was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist.

Abbott Lawrence was among the group of industrialists that founded a settlement on the Merrimack River that would later be named for him, Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Abbott Lawrence attended Groton Academy, now known as the Lawrence Academy, in Groton.

In that year, the Suffolk, Tremont and Abbott Lawrence companies were established in Lowell, and Luther Abbott Lawrence, the eldest brother, represented the firm's interests there.

The Abbott Lawrence brothers were among the founders of New England's influential textile industry.

In 1819, Abbott Lawrence married Katherine Bigelow, the daughter of Timothy Bigelow and sister of John P Bigelow.

Abbott Lawrence was an ardent protectionist, and represented Massachusetts at the Harrisburg protectionist convention in 1827.

Abbott Lawrence did not seek re-election in 1836, but was elected again in 1838, serving in the 26th Congress.

Abbott Lawrence was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1846, and subsequently was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1847.

In 1848, Abbott Lawrence was an unsuccessful candidate for party nomination as vice president on the Whig ticket, headed by Zachary Taylor.

Abbott Lawrence rejected a cabinet appointment, and chose the post of minister to Great Britain.

Abbott Lawrence returned to the United States to join the 1852 presidential campaign of Gen.

Abbott Lawrence was active in Boston's Unitarian Church and donated money to various causes.

Abbott Lawrence supported Lawrence Academy, affordable housing in Boston, and the Boston Public Library.

Abbott Lawrence provided $50,000 to establish the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard College, and provided a similar sum in his will for the School.

Abbott Lawrence died in Boston on August 18,1855, aged 62, and was interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Abbott Lawrence's differenced coat of arms, Argent, a cross raguly gules, on a chief gules a leopard or, became well-known though its 1887 publication as the second of three frontispiece illustrations in American Heraldica, with explication of the original family coat of arms, Argent, a cross raguly gules, on a chief gules three leopard heads or, within the tome on page 33.