Mary Jane McConnel, daughter of William McConnel and Nancy Graham McConnel, was born April 1, 1843, in Guernsey County, Ohio. When she was six years old the family moved to Birmingham, Van Buren County, in southeast Iowa. Six years later the family moved further west, to Wayne County, Iowa. (see William and Nancy's story.) On the 1860 census her occupation is listed as "milliner;" whether that is a skill she continued to employ is unknown.
On December 15, 1864, she married James Andrew Lawson, the son of James Lawson and Ann Mullin Lawson. According Lorena Estlow Hyde, McConnel researcher working in the early 1980's, they spent their entire lives in Wayne County, first in Grand River Township and later in Corydon. They had four children - Emma L.
Annie M.
William C.
and Laura J.
James Lawson held several elected offices, including county recorder. For his biography, see Rootsweb messageboard, Wayne County
Aunt Mary Jane died August 16, 1927, and is buried in Corydon, Iowa.
Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. - Thomas Jefferson
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