Charles L. Lawrence Biography


	This biography appears on pages 810-811 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. I (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	CHARLES L. LAWRENCE was born m St. Lawrence county, New York, in 
the town of Fort Jackson, on the 15th of July, 1866, being a son of 
James O. and Julia A. (Castle) Lawrence and the younger of their two 
children. His sister, Elizabeth M., is the wife of N. J. Johnson, of 
Wakonda, South Dakota. James O. Lawrence was likewise born in St. 
Lawrence county, New York, the date of his nativity having been 1843, 
and he was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, continuing to 
follow agricultural pursuits after attaining manhood. In 1866 he came 
to the west in search of a location, leaving his family in the east 
until he had selected a permanent place of abode. He entered a 
homestead claim in Pope county, Minnesota, where he erected a primitive 
log cabin as a domicile for his family, and he then returned to the 
east and brought his wife and children to the pioneer home in 
Minnesota, where they continued to reside until 1876, when he came to 
Yankton, South Dakota, this city having then been the capital of the 
undivided territory of Dakota, and here he turned his attention to 
government contracting. In the spring of 1879 he took up a preemption 
claim of one hundred and sixty acres, in the northeastern part of 
Yankton county, and removed to this farm, which he improved and placed 
under effective cultivation, while he continued to add to the area of 
his landed estate until he became the owner of a fine farm of four 
hundred and forty acres. In 1894 he disposed of his property in this 
state and removed to Virginia, purchasing a fruit farm about twenty-
five miles southwest of the city of Washington, and there his devoted 
wife died, and in April, 1902, he returned to South Dakota, taking up 
his residence in the attractive city of Sioux Falls, where he is now 
living retired from active business, being well known as one of the 
honored pioneers of the state. In politics he is a staunch advocate of 
the principles of the Republican party, having been an active worker in 
its cause, but never having been a seeker of public office.  

	Charles L. Lawrence, the subject of this sketch, was reared on 
the farm and secured his educational training in the public schools. At 
the age of seventeen years he put his scholastic acquirements to 
practical test by engaging in teaching in the district schools of 
Yankton county, having been thus successfully employed for several 
winter terms, while during the intervening summers he engaged in farm 
work. In November, 1892, he was elected county assessor, of which 
office he continued incumbent for four years, having been elected his 
own successor at the expiration of his first term. In the summer of 
1895 he assigned the detail work of this office to a deputy and then 
went to the village of Volin, where he accepted the position of stock 
buyer for the mercantile concern of the J. T. Daugherty Company. His 
duties in this connection were of varied order, since he maintained the 
general supervision of the books of the company, attended to the buying 
of stock and assisted in shaping the business policy in many ways, thus 
contributing materially to the upbuilding of the extensive business. He 
continued with this concern until March, 1900, when he resigned his 
position, and for several months thereafter he gave his attention to 
the supervision of his fine farm, of two hundred acres, in this county, 
and to his live stock interests. In the autumn of that year he was 
elected county auditor, and he served with so great acceptability that 
he was chosen as his own successor in the autumn of 1902, and is now 
serving his second term in this important office. He has ever accorded 
a staunch allegiance to the Republican party and has labored zealously 
to forward its cause in the local field, having been a delegate to 
various county and congressional conventions and being prominent in the 
local ranks of the "grand old party." Fraternally he is identified with 
Yankton Camp, No. 732, Modern Woodmen of America.  

	On the 6th of December, 1891, Mr. Lawrence was united in marriage 
to Miss Evangeline B. Case, of Yankton, and they are the parents of 
three children, Genevieve, Marjorie and Bernie.