LAWRENCE. LAWRENCE. 569 chusetts volunteer militia, 1S55, captain in 1856, resigned in 1857 to go West ; re-com- missioned captain, 1S58 ; major, 1859; July 23, 1S60, colonel of the 5th regiment of Massachusetts militia, which was one of the first regiments to volunteer for ser- vice when the war broke out in 1861. Dur- ing the preceding winter, with characteris- tic forethought, he began to prepare for what seemed to him an inevitable war, and at his own expense he hired the hall over the Fitchburg railroad station in Boston for frequent drills, and succeeded in bring- ing his command to a high degree of pro- ficiency in military tactics. Colonel Law- rence was afterwards offered a commission in the regular army, which he felt obliged to decline, as he did not then wish to part from his men. He tendered his regiment to Governor Andrew on the 15th of April, 1S61, and on the 19th he was ordered to report for duty. His regiment fought with credit at the first battle of Bull Run, Sun- day, July 21st, in which Colonel Lawrence was wounded. He was commissioned by Governor Andrew, June 9, 1862, brigadier- general in the militia of Massachusetts, which rank he resigned August 20, 1S64. He received in 1869 one of the highest com- pliments paid to military men in this Com- monwealth, in being elected commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- pany. For over twenty-five years General Law- rence was actively interested in state and national politics, but though urgently solic- ited, persistently declined to accept office other than the purely honorary one of presidential elector. He has filled with honor the trust of director in institutions of finance and in those of a charitable nature ; for many years he has served as a director of various railroad corporations, notably the Eastern, Maine Central, and the Boston & Maine railroads, in each of which he is still a director. On the financial shipwreck of the East- ern Railroad in 1876, he was chosen presi- dent of the company, and was eminently successful in keeping the property intact, and in harmonizing the creditors and share- holders into arrangements which saved their interests from the devastation of a struggle in bankruptcy, and the valuable leaseholds of the company from disrup- tion. He is at the present time president of the Eastern and of other railroads. Amid the pressure of business ami of official labor and responsibility, he lias never ceased to plan judiciously and to work zealously for the interests of the Masonic fraternity, in the highest offices of which he has been repeatedly honored. For over twenty-live years he has been one of the most active members in the supreme council of the Scottish Rite, and was for fourteen years the deputy for Mas- sachusetts. A characteristic feature of his Masonic labor has been the establish- ment of permanent charitable funds in every body in which he has been asso- ciated in the working offices. He was three times elected grand master of Ma- sons in Massachusetts, and it was largely through his persistent efforts that the large «te^ SAMUEL C LAWRENCE. debt on the Masonic Temple in Boston was finally paid in full. His Masonic library is acknowledged to be one of the most complete in the country for its lit- erary and historical treasures. General Lawrence has a strong hold upon the esteem and gratitude of his fel- low-townsmen of Medford, for no man has done more to preserve its integrity, pro- mote its welfare, and by his own generous example, quicken its charities. The Grand Army post of the town is called by his name, and no worthy cause of public im- provement or private distress fails to find in him an active worker and a beneficent friend.
