Skip to main content

Lawson, Lawrence O., 1842-1912

 Person

Biography

Lawrence Oscar Lawson was born September 11, 1842, near Kalmar, Sweden. Gaining employment as a merchant seaman, Lawson came to the United States in 1861. In 1880, Lawson accepted appointment as Keeper of the Evanston Lifesaving Station (U.S. Lifesaving Station Number 12, District Number 11, Coast of Lake Michigan). Until his retirement in 1903, he directed the efforts of the student volunteers who worked at the station. Lawson and his crews have been credited with saving hundreds from drowning in Lake Michigan.

Lawson married Petrine Wold in Chicago in 1876. During the mid-1860s Lawson was engaged in shipping and fishing in the Great Lakes. By the end of that decade he had established himself as a fisherman working out of Evanston, Illinois. Lawson left his fishing career to become Keeper of the Evanston Lifesaving Station. He died at his Evanston home on October 29, 1912.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Lawrence O. Lawson (1842-1912) Scrapbook

 Collection — Volume 1
Identifier: 0/22/1
Abstract

The series consists of an oversized scrapbook of materials detailing the exploits of Lawson and the crews of the U.S. Lifesaving Station at Evanston. Included are newspaper and magazine clippings, correspondence, and a few photographs dating largely from the period 1880-1912. A small number of clippings date from the years after Lawson's death and into the 1940s.

Dates: 1880 - ca.1941