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Rebecca Lawson




Dear Family,

Additional information regarding Rebecca, the wife of William Lawson (1733–1826) has been posted at Find A Grave Memorial:

BIRTH unknown
Virginia, USA
DEATH 16 Jan 1827
BURIAL
Lawson Confederate Memorial CemeterySnowflake, Scott County, Virginia, USA
MEMORIAL ID 29149094 · View Source

#1 you need to know about Rebecca if you think she was your ancestor: She was not named Rebecca Jane Banks and she did not marry William Lawson in Halifax County, Virginia in 1758. Jane Banks was a different woman married to a different William Lawson.

#2 thing to know:

Researchers of this Lawson ancestor had always assumed that Rebecca was the mother of William Lawson's children. As of January of 2016, a letter was located in a collection belonging to a Wood family researcher of the Virginia-Tennessee area and shared with myself and several others of this Lawson family.

The letter was dated July 6, 1831 and written by Jeremiah Lawson of Brown County, Ohio to Travis Lawson of Morgan County, Kentucky. This old letter is of a style where the recipient responded back on the same piece of paper. Therefore, the entire communication is on the same paper.

Jeremiah opens the letter with "Dear Brother". He informs Travis of where he was then residing and mentions his children and where they then lived. He inquires about the passing of their father, stating he assumes father has passed on but that he was unaware of the details.

Travis responded that "father departed this life five years this April and stepmother about the esueing Christmas." He then goes on to mention the deaths of supposed brother in law Thomas Mallett and his wife Ann who is presumed to be a Lawson and also their brother William who was "living where you seen him last I heard from last month they were all well two of his daughters is married an lives in this county father's land is left in the hands of two of John Smith's (and?) Polly's sons I want to go in to see about it I want you to be here the first of Sept next to go with me if you can't come send me a power to wit for you Direct your letters Hazelgreen"

This seems to indicate that Rebecca was certainly the stepmother of Travis and because Jeremiah never even inquired about her probably not his mother either. William Jr was born 1763, Travis about 1766 and Jeremiah in 1773, all in North Carolina. We can only assume now that William Lawson was married prior to Rebecca and that wife is unknown. The maiden name of Rebecca and the name of the first wife are both unknown.

We are now suspecting that perhaps John Smith was either a son or son in law of Rebecca from a prior marriage and perhaps the Lawson land was sold to them because they were Rebecca's kin. Or... was Polly, wife of John Smith perhaps another Lawson sibling? A 50 acre transaction occurred in 1816 between William and Rebecca to John Smith.

One fact that is known without a doubt is that a woman named Jane Banks married a different William Lawson in Halifax County, Virginia in 1758. If you are a descendant of this family do not be confused into thinking Jane Banks was the wife of this William Lawson of Scott County, Virginia.

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