William Lawrence House - Bellefontaine, Ohio

 

The William Lawrence House is a historic house in Bellefontaine, Ohio. It is historically significant as the home of William Lawrence, a prominent U.S. Representative during the late nineteenth century. The Lawrence House was built circa 1860 in a modified version of the Italianate style. While the exact date of construction is unknown, in 1861, a member of the Lawrence family incised initials and the date into a windowsill. Born in Mount Pleasant in eastern Ohio in 1819, Lawrence was trained as a lawyer, he attended Franklin College in Harrison County and the Cincinnati Law School. He moved to Logan County in 1841, where he lived for most of the rest of his life. During his years in Bellefontaine, he served in various county offices, was elected to both houses of the Ohio General Assembly, served six terms in the United States House of Representatives, and was appointed to the office of First Comptroller of the Treasury. Lawrence was known professionally as an expert on land law; he was the primary lawyer on behalf of Great Plains farmers who won nearly 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) of land in a prominent lawsuit against railroad companies. Lawrence purchased from P.S. Powell a lot at the intersection of Main Street and High Avenue in Bellefontaine in 1852; here he built his house approximately eight years later. He owned the property until 1897, when he conveyed it to his family; however, he continued to live there until his death two years later. Lawrence's widow Caroline sold the house to a Dr. W.W. Hamer in 1901; in it, Hamer operated Bellefontaine's first hospital. Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on August 24, 1979. GPS: 40.36518°N, -83.75963°W.