[or Lawrance]. American statesman, born in Cornwall, England, in 1750. After removing to America in 1767 he was admitted to the bar of New York in 1772; became aide-de-camp to General Washington in 1777; and presided in the same year as judge-advocate-general at the trial of Major John André. In 1784 Lawrance was elected to Congress; in 1794 he was made United States judge for the New York district; and two years later he was elected to the United States Senate, over which he presided in 1798. He was an ardent patriot, and the personal friend of Washington and Hamilton. He died in New York in 1810.
