Our Lawson Family Heritage

John McNeal Simmons (1861 to 1951)  and Margaret Matilda Handlin Simmons (1867-1947).

Parents: John McNeal Simmons (1861 to 1951) and Margaret Matilda Handlin (1867-1947) Bertha Ann Simmons Stone 3/27/1884 to May 1972  William Edward Stone 9/29/1867 to 1951  Their children: 1. Harvey DOB 3/29/1903  2. Charles Jerry (8/17/1904 to October 1979)  3. Ethel Matilda Hannah (9/28/1906 to June 1974)  4. Ester Anna Lawson ( June 23, 1908 - Dec. 1998)   5. Charles Henry (2/3/1910 to 12/1982)  6. Rueben Carl "Doc" DOB 6/16/1913  7. Leonard Edward. DOB 6/7/1915  8. John Thomas DOB 8/26/1917  9. Jenny Catherine Hensgen DOB 6/3/1919  10. Mary Elizabeth Pannell Renno (7/26/1921 - 9/14/2005)  11. Margaret Ardelia Gardner (2/15/1923 - 8/17/2013)  12. (With 2nd husband William Lawson) Rosa Elizabeth Simmons Shirley DOB 3/27/1927 William Lawson, Sam Simmons and Bertha Stone Lawson *Information compiled by Diane Renno Jarvis and Angela Somers Wittman. Photo provided by Bertha Lawson Dixon.

Queen Victoria Lawson Pettis is the younger sister of my grandfather, Ace Levi Lawson. I remember my mother always speaking most lovingly of her "Aunt Vic" and "Uncle Jess" Pettis. Much gratitude to Find A Grave  and Diana for making this information available: Birth: 1897 Death: 1968 Family links:  Parents: Joseph Reece Lawson (1856 - 1909) Margrette Elizabeth Combs Lawson (1866 - 1929) Spouse: Jess Samuel Pettis (1891 - 1984) Children: Artie N Pettis Blakely (1913 - 1996) * Jessie Mae Pettis Savage (1915 - 2011) * Margaret E. Pettis Derkum (1918 - 2008) * Eddie S Pettis (1920 - 1999) * Mildred Louise Pettis Hargrave (1923 - 2008) * Phillip Wayne Pettis (1925 - 2000) * Elizabeth N. Pettis North (1930 - 2009) * Georgia E Pettis McLaughlin (1932 - 1992) * Donald L Pettis (1935 - 2002) * Geneva Ellen Pettis Dunn (1940 - 2007) * Siblings: Rose Ann Lawson Curry (1883 - 1949) ** Mary Alice Lawson Thurman (1888 - 1934) * Wi

My Grandparents Ace and Anna Lawson with children  (left to right) Charles, Ethel, Martha (my mother) and Russell. 

Peony (Wikipedia) As a child I would often sit in Grandma and Grandpa Lawson's front yard during the day with them and they would tell me stories. Many of the stories have faded from memory, but sitting near Grandpa's much loved and cared for peonies and roses has not. I can still feel the warm sun and remember the fragrance of the roses in bloom. Rose (Wikipedia) One afternoon when I was in my early teens, Grandma and I were alone in the yard, sitting near the pink roses. She must have been feeling nostalgic that day and I remember her telling me that young women were like the rose. They began as the bud and as they grew they bloomed in their youth and were beautiful, but eventually the flower fades - just as a woman's outer beauty will eventually fade as she grows older. I remember being very surprised at Grandma's analogy - she had always been Grandma to me (she was approximately 50 years old when I was born and probably was in her early 60's at this

Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord : we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord . (Psalm 118:26, KJV) How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! (Isaiah 52:7 KJV) Anna Lawson (Ester Anna Stone) is my maternal grandmother. My earliest memory is of her telling me about the Lord Jesus and teaching me to pray. I can truly say that it was Grandma who first told me about Jesus Christ and who gave me my first Bible. Grandmother married Grandpa (Ace Levi Lawson) when she was approximately 21 years old. My mother, Martha, was their first child. They then had 11 more children (Russell, Ethel, Charles, Viola, Mary, Bertha, and James) with four babies dying in infancy (Ace Lester, William Joseph, Samuel David and George Thomas). May the good Lord bless her memory. Amen. Grandma and me (1958)