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Record Creator: | Lawson, Martin Emert |
Title: | Judge Martin Emert Lawson Papers |
Dates: | 1910- 1957 |
Abstract: | Martin Emert Lawson (1867-1956), American Judge, was born on May 15, 1867 near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Lawson was active in the general church in both the annual conference and general conference levels. In the Missouri Conference, he served as member and eventual president of the Board of Church Extension and was a member of the Board of Education and Board of Missions. |
Extent: | 0.93 cu. feet |
Resource ID: | gcah.ms.4468 |
Martin Emert Lawson (1867-1956), American judge, was born on May 15, 1867 near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. When he was four, his family moved to a new home near Ellisville, Illinois. Three years later, the family moved to Osborn, Missouri.
At twenty, Lawson attended Gem City Business College in Quincy, Illinois. After graduation he moved to Kansas City and worked in a grocery store, where he was introduced to the Grand Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Eventually he studied law, passed the Missouri bar in 1890, and joined a law office as a partner. In the meantime, Lawson became active in his local church. He served as Sunday School superintendent for thirty years.
In the Missouri Conference, he served as member and eventual president of the Board of Church Extension, and was a member of the Board of Education and Board of Missions.
On October 20, 1894, he married Kate Riley. Kate died on October 30, 1949. They had two children, James E. and Nancy.
Lawson was active in the general church in both the annual conference and general conference levels. He was instrumental in drawing up plans for the 1939 merger for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Lawson helped form the Judicial Council, known originally in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as the Court of Appeals. He was an initial member of the Court and helped to shape what later became the Judicial Council's policies in both the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and Methodist Church.
Lawson died on January 1, 1956 in Liberty, Missouri.
The collection includes clippings that pertain mainly to the union of the Methodist Church, a eulogy for Lawson, program for "Judge Lawson Day" at the Liberty Methodist Church, opinions of the Court of Appeals, court decisions, and an original signed copy of the opinion of the Judicial Council of the Methodist Episcopal Church South on the matter of the unification of Methodism. The collection also includes several booklets and periodicals; an October 1932 edition of the newspaper Christian Standard, Volume 7 of The Methodist Layman for 1930, a June 1956 edition of the Missouri Methodist, a 1939 edition of the Christian Advocate and several other booklets discussing Methodism. There are many letters, to and from Martin E. Lawson, photographs, a biography of the judge and ephemera concerning the fifth and sixth Ecumenical Conferences.
Materials have been arranged in the following manner.
The collection is arranged by material type within the box and then placed chronologically within the individual folders.
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Judge Martin E. Lawson Papers, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the item's call number as that is not a stable descriptor.
There are no restrictions regarding this collection.
Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.
Ivan Lee Holt Collection
Call Number | Folder Title | Date(s) |
1554-1-4: 1 | Biography | Undated |
1554-1-4: 2 | Reminiscence - "The General Conferences and Some of My Experiences While Attending Them" | Undated |
1554-1-4: 3 | Correspondence - Board of Church Extension | 1916-1948 |
1554-1-4: 4 | Correspondence - Miscellaneous | 1911-1929 |
1554-1-4: 5 | Correspondence - Miscellaneous | 1930-1944 |
1554-1-4: 6 | Correspondence - Miscellaneous | 1945-1957 |
1554-1-4: 7 | Newspaper - Christian Standard | 1932 |
1554-1-4: 8 | Opinion on unification of Methodism, Judicial Council of Methodist Episcopal Church, South | 1938 |
1554-1-4: 9 | Summary of four trials | Undated |
1554-1-4: 10 | Photograph of Judicial Council Members | Undated |
1554-1-4: 11 | Ephemera | 1923-1952 |
1553-6-7: 1 | Opinions of the Court of Appeals of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South | 1910-1922 |
1553-6-7: 2 | Booklet - Wesleyana | Undated |
1553-6-7: 3 | Booklet - Tributes to John Wesley and his chapel in the City Road, London | 1928 |
1553-6-7: 4 | Booklet - The Adult Student | 1938 |
1553-6-7: 5 | Booklet - The Highroad of Methodism | 1939 |
1553-6-7: 6 | Program - Banquet in Honor of the Judicial Council of the Methodist Church | 1950 |
1553-6-7: 7 | Handbook for Delegates - South Central Jurisdictional Conference of the Methodist Church | 1956 |
1553-6-7: 8 | Program - Judge Lawson Day at the Liberty Methodist Church | 1956 |
1553-6-7: 9 | Periodical - Christian Advocate | 1939 |
1553-6-7: 10 | Periodical - The Methodist Layman - Volume 7 | 1930 |
1553-6-7: 11 | Periodical - The Journal of the Methodist Historical Library Inc. | 1952-1956 |
1553-6-7: 12 | Periodical - The Missouri Methodist | 1956 |
1553-6-7: 13 | Correspondence - to Nancy Lawson Jones | 1957 |
1553-6-7: 14 | Correspondence - Board of Lay Activities | 1926-1948 |
1553-6-7: 15 | Correspondence - Judicial Council | 1923-1956 |
1553-6-7: 16 | Correspondence - Methodist Ecumenical Council | 1940-1951 |
1553-6-7: 17 | Fifth Ecumenical Methodist Conference - Invitations and Dinner Programs | 1921 |
1553-6-7: 18 | Sixth Ecumenical Methodist Conference, Official Program | 1931 |
1553-6-7: 19 | Photographs | 1921-1952 |
1553-6-7: 20 | Articles | 1921-1950 |
1553-6-7: 21 | Eulogy for Martin E. Lawson | 1957 |