Our First Laurence/Laurence in America
My paternal grandfather Robert Jones Laurence, lived in Long Beach, California, during my early childhood. I saw him only twice. At Christmas time in 1933 and again at Christmas in 1936, we made the trip from Texas to California, taking three day by car. My recollection is mostly from two photos. One was of my Granddad Laurence carrying me at the Rose Parade. The other is a picture of him with my brother Billy in his new Cowboy suit and me in my new Indian garb. Granddad passed away in the summer of 1937, and we did not make the trip to California again until I had finished college. My grandmother Julia Ann Nicholas had passed on before I was born. I do know that my father voice had a gentle tone in it while speaking of his mother, so I always had the feeling she was a very special lady in his eyes.
The first know Laurence of our line who came to America was probably William Lawrence who we will refer to as William I. He arrived in Lancaster County, Virginia, Oct. 8, 1670, without family. In 1683, still in Lancaster County, he married American born Johanna Lawson Sydnor, widow of Fortunatus Sydnor. Johanna and Fortunatus Sydnor had six children born between 1671 and 1682. Much is recorded in Virginia history of the Sydnor descendants. There are some indications that the Laurences went to the Eastern shore of Maryland and the area of Nansemond county Virginia.
William Lawrence III, grandson of Johanna and William I, was born in 1734 in Lancaster County. There is record of his inheriting a shotgun from his grandfather. William III fought Indians in North Carolina and was given a land grant by the King of England. He settled in Granville County, N.C. and married Deborah, in 1756.
