Home > Archival Finding Aids Home Page> Guide to the Judge Martin Emert Lawson Papers

Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Content

Arrangement

Preferred Citation

Restrictions on Access

Restrictions on Use

Related Material

Subject Terms

Container List [ + ]

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Guide to the Judge Martin Emert Lawson Papers

Prepared by Sofia Novozilova, Student Assistant and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist

United Methodist Archives and History Center
General Commission on Archives and History, Madison, New Jersey

9/7/2004


Overview of Records

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



Biographical Note

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.


Scope Note

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.


Arrangement

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.


Preferred Citation

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.


Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding this collection.


Restrictions on Use

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.


Related Material

Ivan Lee Holt Collection

Subject Terms

Subject Names - Corporate
Methodist Church (U.S.)
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
Subject Topics
Church union
Ecclesiastical law
Ecumenical movement
Funeral service.
Trials
Church anniversaries
Subject Geographic
Missouri.
England
Genre
Biographies
Booklets
Correspondence
Eulogies
Invitations
Newspapers
Obituaries
Periodicals
Photographs
Programs
Publications.
Reminiscences
Articles
Occupations
Judge.


Container List

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