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Clara
(DeMoss) Lawrence |
Clara (DeMoss) Lawrence was born on Oct. 27, 1860 in Van Wert, Van Wert County, OH, the daughter of Charles W. and Eliza (Miner) DeMoss. Her husband, a prominent newspaper publisher, met a tragic and scandalous death that generated sensational headlines.
When Clara was seven, her father, a Civil War veteran who had not fully recovered from his wartime illnesses, passed away, leaving her fatherless. Her mother remarried again to William Cornwell, when Clara was age 12. Shortly thereafter, Clara and her mother, stepfather and siblings migrated westward to Nebraska, settling in Columbus, Platte County.
On
March 10, 1880, at age 20, Clara married William Henry
Lawrence (1852-1898), a native of Wakeman, Huron County, OH, and the youngest of
10 children of John Horatio and Sarah (Evans) Lawrence. The ceremony took
place in Columbus, NE, by the hand of J.J.A. Flehartz, pastor of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
The following year, the newlyweds moved to Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH. The famed public square of Cleveland is seen here in a rare postcard view.
The Lawrences had six children, of whom five are known – Claude Ray "Jack" Lawrence, William Kalamazoo Lawrence, George Rollin "Roll" Lawrence, Hazel F. Tuttle Tifferman and Clara D. Hayward. Son Claude was born in Lincoln, NE in 1881, while the rest were born in Ohio.
The Lawrences first resided at 286 Genessee Avenue in Cleveland.
From 1872 to 1894, William and his entrepreneur-brother Mortimer J. Lawrence helped publish The Ohio Practical Farmer, sometimes just known as The Ohio Farmer, a prominent and influential newspaper that still exists today as a magazine. A complete set of hardcopies of back issues of The Ohio Farmer is held at the Ohio Historical Society's Archives/Library in Columbus.
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| 1883 issue of the Ohio Farmer, featuring a fanciful masthead |
In the first issue under family control (Jan. 4, 1873), brother M.J. made a promise to his readers:
In assuming this important trust I have simply to say that I shall endeavor to the best of my ability to make it fully worthy of the public's trust and patronage and to add to its already enviable reputation. I mean to make it a success, fully appreciating the necessity of conducting it in such a manner that its value will be seen and appreciated by its readers and patrons. He who caters to the intellectual tastes of the American people, with a hope of success, must show genuine value in his product or have his hopes blighted; for the reading people of our country today possess too much intelligence and are too critical to be expected to support anything but a first class journal...
The
Lawrence brothers formed a partnership in 1886,
with M.J. as editor, and William as vice president and business manager.
The effort must have been lucrative, as William was wealthy enough to own a ranch in Denver, CO. (Seen
here is a rare old bird's eye view of Denver, from a postcard of that era,
taken from the state capitol building.) Colorado was a popular destination for
prominent Clevelanders of that era, and Standard Oil founder and billionaire
John D. Rockefeller and his family are known to have vacationed there in the
1870s. In fact, M.J. himself launched business ventures in Denver -- including
the People's Savings and Deposit Bank in 1888 and later the People's National
Bank.
Of his work, The Ohio Farmer once wrote that he:
...was personally known to a large number of our subscribers and patrons.... While his faults were many, all of us who knew him best cherish the knowledge that his business honor, his truthfulness and loyalty to friends can never be questioned. His charity for the poor and ready assistance and sympathy for the unfortunate or afflicted, knew no bounds. He was kind and liberal to a fault and fearless to an extent that knew no danger, and in emergencies made him reckless of consequences.
William worked until ill health forced him to resign in about 1894. The
issue of Sept. 19, 1895 is the last one where he was listed as vice
president of the company.
After his resignation, William traveled "through the south and west," said the Cleveland Plain Dealer, while his wife and five children remained in Cleveland. It's thought that his traveling companion was the troubled but "exceedingly beautiful" Florence (Chisholm) Richardson, "at one time a member of Cleveland's demimonde." Florence was divorced, and had once been arrested for robbing a musician in Cleveland. She also was "an expert rifle shot, having received instructions in handling the weapon from [William] and having won [a] championship cup..."
In April 1898, William went to the ranch in Denver and took Florence with him. In September of that year, they registered for a room at the Oxford Hotel in Denver. There, they got into a dispute, and William threatened that he was leaving her to return to his family.
On Friday, Sept. 9, the fiercely jealous Florence got her grisly revenge. She pulled out a .38 caliber revolver, took aim, and fired at William. The shot hit him "in the lung..., and the ball passed through his body," said the Plain Dealer. "Immediately after shooting [him] she turned the weapon upon herself with fatal results. She died immediately."
Seriously wounded, William was taken from the hotel to St. Luke's Hospital in Denver, where he held on for two days. Telegrams were sent to his wife and brother M.J. in Cleveland. One telegram said he "was improving and on the strength of it his wife was preparing to go to his bedside. She was just about to leave her home to take the train for Denver when the telegram announcing his death was received."
The
sensational story made headlines in the Plain Dealer. William's nephew
Lyman Lawrence went to Denver to bring the body back to Cleveland. The funeral
was held at William's home. Burial was in Cleveland's prestigious Lake View Cemetery.
With "extreme sadness," The Ohio Farmer published the following eulogy:
The grief that attends his untimely death is deepened by the memory of his many manly qualities. These we shall always cherish, while we cover his faults with the mantle of charity. All of the many old employes of The Farmer sincerely mourn his sad ending and deeply sympathize with his wife and children in their bereavement and sorrow.
The
Lake View Cemetery is seen here in a rare old postcard photograph
circa 1906. Among other notable Americans, the Rockefellers and assassinated
U.S. President James A. Garfield also are
buried at Lake View.
Clara thus was widowed unexpectedly at age 38. The eldest of her five sons was 17 years old at the time. Little is known about the rest of her life. Fortunately, she inherited her husband's wealth and was able to live comfortably off the proceeds.
Circa 1900, when the federal census was enumerated, Clara and her children Hazel, George and Clara resided on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland.
When Clara's grandfather, Burget Miner was old and inform, he came to Cleveland to reside in her home. He died in 1909, and his body was returned to Van Wert for burial.
For 35 years Clara resided at 13613 Euclid Avenue in East Cleveland. Among her Euclid neighbors -- many blocks away -- were the Rockefellers. "Local boosters had ... tagged Euclid Avenue 'the most beautiful street in the world,' with homes that lavishly mirrored the local fortunes in oil, iron, banking, timber, railroads and real estate," writes Ron Chernow in his national bestseller, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller Sr. "All of the town's new opulence was reflected in this street of massive houses."
The 1910 census shows Clara heading the household on Euclid Avenue, with sons Claude, William and George in the household, as well as widowed daughter Hazel Tuttle, age 24. Also living under the family roof was Clara's coachman, Lucius Smith. By 1920, she was living alone.
At some point in time, date unknown, Clara's younger half brother Archie B. DeMoss traveled from his home in Kansas to Cleveland to see her. The only reference to this is a letter from a Cornwell cousin to Archie's son, stating that Clara "was so elderly at the time of your father's visit."
The 1930 census shows Clara and divorced son Claude living in the Euclid Avenue home. Despite the Great Depression having crippled the American economy, Clara claimed an estate valued at $80,000 at the time.
When she became ill later in life, Clara sold her Euclid Avenue home to the Joseph J. Margowsky Funeral Co.
Clara
passed away
at the age of 76 on Jan. 21, 1937 in Cleveland City Hospital. She had suffered
from diabetes and hardening of the arteries, as well as dementia. She was buried beside her
husband, after nearly four decades as a widow. Her brief obituary was published
in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, seen at right.
Son Claude Ray Lawrence (1881-1943) was born in Lincoln, NE. In 1910, at the age of 29, he lived with his widowed mother in Cleveland and had no occupation. He was married in about 1916, at the age of 35, but was divorced by 1930. When the 1930 census was taken, when Claude was 49, he was employed as a real estate salesman and made his home with his widowed mother. Later, in his early 60s, he resided at 7722 Linwood Avenue in Cleveland. Claude suffered from lung cancer, and died of its effects at the age of 62, on Sept. 6, 1943, at the McGillis Sanitarium in Cleveland. Burial was in Lakeview Cemetery.
Son William K. Lawrence (1884-1953), at the age of 26, in 1910, lived with his widowed mother in Cleveland, and had no occupation. He later married Lulu (?) and resided in Los Angeles, where he died on Jan. 16, 1953.
Son George Rollin Lawrence (1889-1965) was employed as a clerk in Cleveland in 1910. He was not married, and passed away at the age of 76 in Cleveland on Jan. 22, 1965.
Daughter Hazel Lawrence (1888-1970) was married at least twice. Her first husband was (?) Tuttle. Tragically, Mr. Tuttle died after only a year or two of marriage, and Hazel moved back into her mother's home on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, living there as of 1910. Later, she wed (?) Tifferman and resided in or near Parma, Cuyahoga County. She died on Sept. 23, 1970, at age 82.
Daughter Clara D. Lawrence (1890-1966) married (?) Hayward and in 1937 lived at 7722 Linwood Avenue in Cleveland. Later, they resided for many years in Ventura, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles. She died on Jan. 24, 1966, at the age of 76.
William's brother Mortimer J. Lawrence also founded the Michigan Farmer and Pennsylvania Farmer publications, and sold them along with the Ohio Farmer to Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas circa 1921.
For more information on the genealogy of the Lawrence family, contact Audrey (Landreth) Le Mieux.
Copyright © 2001-2004, 2006, 2009 Mark A. Miner