Our Lawson Family Heritage

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 Cemetery Snowflake, 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 ...

Dear Lawson Family, It appears there are some questions as to if the William "the rebel" Lawson is our ancestor or if perhaps another William from Scotland is the true patriarch of our family. I found this note at the William Lawson (1731 - 1826) Wiki Tree Page: William “Our Scottish Immigrant” Lawson Birth 26 Jun 1733 Montrose, Angus, Scotland Death 18 Apr 1826 Snowflake, Scott County, Virginia, USA Burial Lawson Confederate Memorial Cemetery Snowflake, Scott County, Virginia, USA Memorial ID 19302244 Please refer to www.lfhp.org for further information on William Lawson. Many people are still actively researching this ancestor and as of 2017 new data has been found. The LFHP website will be updating this information and sharing it with all on their mailing list. Correcting the information on the website is ongoing. Please understand there is no disrespect intended to any others who have devoted years of research to this ancestor. To those who paid ...

This is a church directory photo of Marsha Lawson Somers taken in the late 1970's or early 1980's. This is a photo of my mother who went to be with the Lord on New Year's Eve, 1995. This time of the year is bitter sweet as we remember her fight with cancer and know it is good she has been with Lord Jesus these many years, but we still miss her.

The Monongahela National Forest; photo taken from slopes of Back Allegheny Mountain looking east   ( Valerius Tygart  - Appalachian Mountains /  Wikipedia ) As our patriarch William (the rebel) Lawson was originally from Scotland, banished to America and then eventually settled in Snowflake, Virginia, I thought this article on  The Dialect of The Appalachian People by Wylene P. Dial  posted at  West Virginia Archives and History would be appropriate to feature here.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The dialect spoken by Appalachian people has been given a variety of names, the majority of them somewhat less than complimentary. Educated people who look with disfavor on this particular form of speech are perfectly honest in their belief that something called The English Language, which they conceive of as a completed work - unchanging and fixed for all time - has been taken and, through ignorance, shamefully distorted by the mountain folk. The f...

Photo of my parents, Jess and Marsha (Lawson) Somers, with brothers Terry, Kenny and me (1958 ?). I don't remember ever seeing this family photo before, but after receiving it in the mail from my cousin yesterday, many fond memories have been going through my mind... I remember as a child thinking my father was the most handsome man in the world and my mother the kindest woman on earth. I also remember crawling over pillows my mother had placed around me (as a barricade?) to get to my brothers who were playing with toy army men. Sadly, they didn't appreciate my company as I remember knocking over their battle scene. :) I love my parents - mom went to be with the Lord in 1995 and Dad is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. A few months ago he told me I worried about him too much and that he has lived a good life. He then assured me he is in the Lord's care... I truly hope so. Thank You, dear Lord, for the family I was born into. Please watch over my brothers and...

As our family roots originate in Scotland, I think it might be helpful for us to learn more of its forgotten history. Here is a link to two brief videos that will eventually become a series of Scotland's Forgotten History. I hope you'll enjoy them and develop a love and connection to our Lawson heritage. It's one of bravery and heroism. We are connected by blood to a noble people. Scotland's Forgotten History Trailer from Scotland's Forgotten History on Vimeo . Link: https://vimeo.com/scotlandforgottenhistory/scotlandsforgottenhistory Our Need for Revival Today Our Need for Revival Today from Scotland's Forgotten History on Vimeo . Link: https://vimeo.com/230762121

Please click image for larger view. This picture was probably taken around 1910. I remember my Great Grandmother telling me she traveled in a covered wagon. This picture certainly looks as though it could've been taken from a scene in the "Little House on the Prairie" series!

Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland . Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns. Tartan is often called plaid in North America, but in Scotland, a plaid is a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder as a kilt accessory, or a plain ordinary blanket such as one would have on a bed. Tartan is made with alternating bands of coloured (pre-dyed) threads woven as both warp and weft at right angles to each other. The weft is woven in a simple twill , two over—two under the warp, advancing one thread at each pass. This forms visible diagonal lines where different colours cross, which give the appearance of new colours blended from the original ones. The resulting blocks of colour repeat vertically and horizontally in a distinctive pattern of squares and lines known as a sett. (Wikipedia) ...

Mother and Father (Jess Somers) on their Wedding Day (March 26, 1957) with my brothers Kenny and Terry Davidson

(Estimated to be 29 years old) Anna Stone Lawson June 23, 1908 - Dec. 1998 The Woman Who Fears the Lord ( Proverbs 31: 30 - 31  ESV) 30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates. Today is Grandma Anna Lawson's Birthday!  She was born June 23, 1908 and went to be with the Lord, whom she served, in December of 1998. Anna Stone Lawson (approx. 6 mos. old) Scripture tells us that a woman who fears the LORD, will be praised by her descendants and today is a day for us to give the LORD our praise for the godly example Anna Stone Lawson displayed for us. Dear Father in Heaven,  We thank You for the Christian influence of our Grandmother Anna Lawson. She planted seeds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ deep within our souls as she read Bible stories and spoke of You to us while we sat on her lap and felt her lo...

The Battle of Culloden (Wikipedia) Excerpt from Lawson, William - A Scottish Rebel by Bill Porter and posted online at Electric Scotland : William Lawson was born 26 June 1731 at Montrose, Scotland. He was the only son of a widow lady (1). No information is available on his father. Some believe his name was Robert and may have been killed during the Scottish uprising which culminated in the fatal route and dispersion of the followers of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, "the Pretender" to the throne of Great Britain at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746.  At this battle the British army, under the command of the Duke of Cumberland, killed 1000 of the 5000 Scottish troops in less than an hour and pursued the fleeing rebels, persecuting and prosecuting them and members of their families (2). William Lawson was one of many young Scotsmen arrested and placed in prisons in northern England.  Confined at Chester and Carlisle, the Scottish rebels became a threat to...

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...

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)

My mother and her younger sister Ethel Geraldine