The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Lawrence, Abbott

LAWRENCE, Abbott, American manufacturer and diplomatist: b. Groton, Mass., 16 Dec 1792; d. Boston, 18 Aug. 1855. In 1814 he became one of the firm of A. and A. Lawrence, which for many years conducted a prosperous business in the sale of foreign cotton and woolen goods on commission, and later established a cotton industry in Lowell, Mass., with his brother Amos (q.v.). He was a member of the 24th Congress and again 1839-40. He was a commissioner in 1842 to settle the Northeastern Boundary question and arranged a basis for settlement with Lord Ashburton which was satisfactory to both the United States and England, and was Minister to Great Britain in 1849-52. He founded the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University, to which he gave $100,000; and was a liberal philanthropist. Consult Hill, A. H., ‘Memoir of Abbott Lawrence’ (2d ed., Boston 1884).