Lawson Family Geneology Welcome to the Lawson Family Geneology website. In May of 2001, members of the family in the USA and in Australia, who were previuosly unaware of each others' existence, made contact with the help of the internet. How this occurred can be viewed as somewhat of a minor miracle. In February of 2001, Megan Edwards, of Ocean City, NJ, USA, a student at Towson University, near Baltimore, MD, USA, went to take a semester of study at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Megan's uncle, Barry Edwards (Atglen, PA, USA), was speaking to his first cousin, Elizabeth Mason (Drexel Hill, PA, USA), about Megan's trip and Betty (Elizabeth) mentioned to him that her father, Richard Lawson Carmichael (1900-1992), used to speak about relatives in Australia. Betty researched some old family papers that were saved by her aunt, Eleanor Carmichael (1911-1994) and discovered, among other things, two letters written from Fine View Farm, Warracknabeal, VIC, AU, to her great-grandmother, Jane Lawson (1848-1915) in Philadelphia, PA, USA. The first letter from Australia, dated 30 October, 1912, was from Jane's niece, Maggie Taylor and the second letter, dated 22 June, 1913, was from Jane's sister, Mary Lawson Taylor. These two letters gave many names of family members in Australia as well as several place names. Armed with this information, an e-mail was sent in April, 2001, by Megan's father, David Lawson Edwards, (Ocean City, NJ, USA) to The Warracknabeal Herald seeking information about relatives down under. Thankfully, The Herald printed the text of the e-mail in the paper and, within days, responses were received by both regular mail and e-mail from cousins in Australia. The first contact from down under was received by e-mail from Florence Taylor , (Warracknabeal, VIC, AU), the wife of Thein Taylor, a nephew and grandson of the letter writers, Maggie and Mary Lawson Taylor. The e-mail was actually sent by Bethea (Beth) Wright, Thein and Florence's daughter, on their behalf. Shortly later, letters or e-mails were received from Lois (Taylor) Leirsch (Warracknabeal, VIC, AU), Una (Taylor) Goodgame (Horsham, VIC, AU), and Nancy Hupfield (Wangaratta, VIC, AU), and Gavan Marshman (Warracknabeal, VIC, AU), all of whom are descendants of Mary Lawson Taylor. In June, 2001, David Edwards, his wife Cheryl, and their other daughter, Jodie, along with five others, travelled to Brisbane, QLD, AU to visit Megan while she was still attending school there. While in Australia, David and Jodie, went to Warracknabeal, VIC, AU and spent a night at the home of Thein and Florence Taylor. While there they met many of their Aussie relatives and, upon best belief, when Thein and Beth met David and Jodie in the driveway of Thein's home on 25 July, 2001, it was the first time that decendants of sisters Mary Lawson Taylor and Jane Lawson ever met since they parted ways in Ireland in 1880. This website has been created as a gift to the the Lawson extended family and will be maintained as best possible for the purpose of documenting and soliciting additional information from and about family members. To begin your search, go to FAMILY INDEX and enjoy. Your input is needed and is welcome, including photos, which can be e-mailed or sent by regular mail to P.O. Box 1099, Ocean City, NJ, 08226, USA. Also, if anyone wishes to maintain an information page on any individual, please advise of the URL and a link will be provided.

FAMILY INDEX A-McJ McK-Z Generational PHOTO ALBUM BIRTHDAYS By Name By Date WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES By Name By Date Give your FEEDBACK Photo: A Taylor Christmas gathering at Millstead's in Warracknabeal, VI, AUS. (supplied by Nancy Hupfield, Wangaratta, VIC, AUS) CLICK ON PHOTO FOR LARGER IMAGE PHOTO: Lawson family members from Australia and the USA at the home of Thein and Florence Taylor, Warracknabeal, VIC, AU, on 25 June 2001. CLICK ON PHOTO FOR LARGER IMAGE Left to Right: Leigh McKenzie, David Lawson Edwards, Jodie Edwards, Thein Taylor, Shirley Taylor McKenzie, Kathy Marshman, Beth Taylor Wright, Florence Taylor , Una Taylor Goodgame, Lois Taylor Liersch, Stan Liersch. This site has been visited times since 15 February 2002.