| Other People | Frank J. Bradley | Olive Rambo Cook | Jerry Litton | | |||
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Past and Present of Livingston County Volume 2. Biographies by Major A. J. Roof. 1913 |
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Pages 90-91
Charles J. Lawson, who for many years has been identified with agricultural interests of Mooresville township as the owner of a farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 20, is a native son of Livingston county, born upon the farm he now owns December 18, 1860. His parents were Ann and Margaret (Clark) Lawson. The family is of old British origin and the first of the name to come to America settled in Virginia, whence representatives of the line moved to Kentucky and finally to Livingston county. The father of our subject purchased the land which is now the property of his son in pioneer times, buying from a Mr. Hudgins, who had taken it up as a preemption claim. He transformed it from a state of partial cultivation into a well developed and profitable tract, interrupting his farming operations only in order to serve in the Civil war, and resuming them immediately after his discharge. He became well known and widely popular in agricultural and social circles of the community and his death on March 2, 1880, was deeply regretted by his many friends. He had survived his wife since March 29, 1875, and both are buried in the Mooresville cemetery.
Charles J. Lawson acquired his education in the Mooresville public schools and laid aside his books at the early age of twelve in order to assume some of the duties connected with the operation of his father's farm. At the age of nineteen the entire responsibility for the management of the home farm and for the welfare of the remaining members of the family was laid upon his shoulders as the eldest son, and the duties devolving upon him in this connection have been ably and honorably discharged. He has since remained upon the homestead, bending his energies to its further improvement and development and winning as the years have gone by an honored place among progressive and successful agriculturists. To the improvements which his father had placed upon the property he has added a modem residence and he never neglects anything which will add to the attractive appearance or the value of the place. He engages in mixed farming, raising fine crops of grain and keeping thirty-two head of pure-bred cattle, eight horses, thirty sheep and fine herds of swine, his stock-raising interests constituting a valuable addition to his income.
Mr. Lawson is a stanch democrat and active in his support of the principles and policies for which that party stands. He makes his home with his two sisters, Mildred L. and Margaret I., and is very popular and well liked by his friends in this vicinity. The spirit of self-help is dominant in his career, for he has depended entirely upon his own resources and his life of industry and practical labor has brought him rich rewards in material success and in the high confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens.