Our Lawson Family Heritage

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 

By John Angell James (1785 - 1859) 1. The enjoyments and occupations of heaven are uniformly represented as social: but where is the charm of society without mutual knowledge? 2. Heaven is uniformly represented as perfecting all our faculties; is it then probable that it will diminish memory, one of the most important of them? And if memory be still retained in full vigor, and it be perpetually employed, as it inevitably must be, on the past scenes of our earthly existence, is it likely that the friends and companions of that existence, inhabiting then the same celestial world with us, will be unknown to us? 3. The chief grace that will be increased in the regions of the blest, next to love to God, will be love to our companions in glory. But will not one of the most pure, elevated, and delightful exercises of this holy passion be wanting, if we are ignorant of our glorified relatives? 4. In the general judgment, which is appointed to vindicate the ways of God to man, it is

Ace Levi Lawson (2.24.1894 - 9.15.1972) Grandfather's Grave Site As a child I remember seeing Grandfather's WWI military paper hanging in a frame in Grandmother's front room (parlor) and being amazed that he fought in a World War. As time permits, I hope to find more on his service record and will share it here. Grandfather truly was the glue that held his family together and he was much loved and respected by all his children and grandchildren. He was 14 years older than Grandmother when they married, and died 26 years before her.  I remember how devastated my grandmother, mother, aunts and uncles were at his death. I had not seen my grandmother cry until his death. There's no doubt in my mind that she truly loved him and he loved her. My memory of him is still clear as he was a man of great discernment regarding human nature and he would spend hours sitting in the front yard of his home telling us children stories. I have wonderful memories of baking him