Abraham Lincoln Lawrence, born December 25, 1863, in Brownville, Nemaha County, Nebraska, served as sheriff of Nemaha County. His parents, Samuel S. Lawrence and Rosena Moyer, were early settlers in the region. Samuel S. Lawrence, originally from Ohio, moved his family to Iowa in 1852 and then to Nemaha County in 1863. Abraham grew up on his father’s farm and received education in local schools and Brownville. He married Kate Agnes Penny on February 1, 1885, and they had several children. Elected sheriff in 1901 and re-elected in 1903, Abraham was also a successful farmer and active in numerous fraternal organizations.
Abraham Lincoln Lawrence, sheriff of Nemaha County, Nebraska, was born at Brownville, then the county seat of Nemaha County, on December 25, 1863. Mr. Lawrence’s parents were pioneers of Nemaha County, Nebraska, and his grandparents were pioneers of the localities in which they lived. Samuel Lawrence, his grandfather, was a native of Pennsylvania, from whence he moved when a young man to Ohio, settling there when that state was nearly all covered with timber. There he cleared and improved several farms. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. He married his own cousin, and they reared three children, namely: John, who died in Marion County, Ohio, leaving two sons and three daughters; Samuel S.; and Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Jacob Easterly, died leaving two children.
Samuel S. Lawrence was born in Adams County, Ohio, on October 25, 1826, and in the winter of 1849 or ’50 was married in Marion County, that state, to Rosena Moyer, a native of the county in which he was born, the date of her birth being September 11, 1827. Her father, Philip Moyer, an Ohio farmer, was thrown from one of his horses and sustained an injury from the effects of which he died, at about the age of forty years. His wife was a Miss Cramer, and they were the parents of five children: Philip, Daniel, Samuel, Sarah, and Rosena. They reared their family in Ohio and afterward moved to Iowa, where they spent the rest of their lives and died, Mrs. Moyer reaching the advanced age of ninety-one years. Samuel S. and Rosena Lawrence had a family of children as follows: the firstborn, a daughter, died in infancy; William, a farmer in Nemaha County, has a wife and one daughter and one son; Philip, the next born, was accidentally scalded to death at the age of two and a half years; Daniel, who died at the age of eighteen years; John A., a farmer in Nemaha County, is married and has three children; Samuel C., also a farmer of Nemaha County, has a wife and three children; Abraham Lincoln; Valentine, who resides at the home farm in Nemaha County, has a wife and three children; and Rosena, who died at the age of seven years. The parents of this family moved from Ohio to Iowa in 1852 and settled in Jones County on a farm which they purchased and where they lived for a number of years. This farm they traded for a tract of land in Nemaha County, Nebraska, in 1863, and that year moved to this land from Brownville, this county, where they had located the previous year. Their first two children were born in Ohio, the next four in Iowa, and the rest in Nebraska. And while they reared a large family and reared them well, they at the same time by careful economy and good management accumulated a competency, and to each child they gave eighty acres of land. Here Samuel S. Lawrence died on December 9, 1901, and his wife died on March 27, 1903. They were in early life members of the Lutheran church, but later identified themselves with the Cumberland Presbyterian church, of which they were consistent members at the time of death.
Abraham Lincoln Lawrence spent his boyhood days on his father’s farm, receiving a fair education in the common schools and attending the Brownville school for two years. For a short time he taught school for his brother, Samuel C., who was a teacher for a number of years, teaching one school for six years. Their father also was at one time a teacher. After his marriage, which event occurred about the time he reached his majority, Mr. Lawrence settled on one hundred and sixty acres of his father’s land, eighty acres of which he now owns. He owns other land, amounting in all to two hundred and forty-two acres, located three miles west of Brownville. Until he was elected county sheriff in 1901, Mr. Lawrence gave his whole attention to farming, with the exception of one year when he was engaged in merchandising in Brownville. He has made most of the improvements on the farm on which he lives. He built the residence and barn and planted his fine orchard, which is twelve acres in extent and comprises an excellent variety of fruits.
On February 1, 1885, Mr. Lawrence married Miss Kate Agnes Penny, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of William E. Penny. The children born of this union are as follows and range in age from sixteen to two years: Mabel Grace, Don A., Abraham L., Jr., William McKinley, Samuel Clinton, a son who died in infancy, and Daniel.
Mr. Lawrence’s own name and the names of two of his children indicate the political party with which this family has harmonized. As a Republican, Mr. Lawrence was elected to the sheriff’s office in 1901, for a term of two years, and re-elected in 1903, which term expires January 1, 1905. For years he has been affiliated with numerous fraternal organizations, among them being the Free and Accepted Masons, both lodge and chapter, he being a past master of his lodge; Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Ancient Order United Workmen, Modern Woodmen, and the Highlanders.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company, A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska, 2 volumes, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.