William Lawton was the first of the family to immigrate to Edisto Island, South Caroliina. He was born 1723 in Cheshire, England and died 15 Oct 1757 on Edisto Island. He was married (1) to Mary Clarke, daughter of Jeremiah Clarke (2) Mary Stone, a daughter of John Stone and his wife, Susannah (Carriere) Stone and (3) to Mary Winborn, a daughter of Thomas Winborn.
Issue of William Lawton and Mary Clarke:
Josiah Lawton, died 1757.
William Lawton, died 1759.
Sarah B. Lawton, born 1739 on Edisto Island, Colleton County, South Carolina, died 21 Oct 1798, same place. She was married to John Seabrook (1731-1783), a son of Joseph Seabrook and his wife, Elizabeth (Whitmarsh) Seabrook.
Jeremiah Lawton, d. 1762.
Issue of William Lawton and Mary Stone:
Joseph Lawton, born 18 Oct 1753 on Edisto Island, South Carolina, died at his home, Mulberry Grove, in Robertville, Jasper County, South Carolina on 5 Mar 1815. He was married on 18 Mar 1773 in St. James Parish, Charleston, South Carolina to Sarah Robert (1755-1839), a daughter of Jacques Robert and his wife, Sarah (Jaudon) Robert. Joseph Lawton served under General Moultrie during the Revolutionary War in Black Swamp. He had a British friend who saved his life when the British captured him and planned to execute him. He owned land in St. Peter's Parish and St. Helena Parish as well as in Granville County. His home was Mulberry Grove Plantation which was located in Black Swamp in the flood plain of the Savannah River. He served as a Justice of the Peace in St. Peter's Parish and resided at Mulberry Grove (now known as Pineland Plantation) which was located along the Savannah River in Beaufort County. It contained 18,000 acres and Lawton was listed with 20 slaves according to ther 1790 census. The summer home was called Transpine and is the site of the present village of Pineland. His tombstone reads - Sacred to the memory of Joseph Lawton who died on Blackswamp, S. C. March 5, 1815 Aged 61 years. He lived and died a pious christian and good citizen. Joseph Lawton was counted in a census in 1778 in Beaufort District, South Carolina. During the Revolutionary War Joseph Lawton was Lieutenant-Commander of the Black Swamp Company of Militia (1778) under Colonel Stephen Bull. Lawton served as a member of the House of Representatives from St. Peters Parish from 1784 to 1786. He and his wife were buried at the Black Swamp Baptist Church cemetery in Robertville. Martha Lawton, in her Last and Testament, named all of her daughters-in-law, viz:Phebe Lawton, Jane Lawton, Marsha Lawton, Lucinda Lawton. Also, her grandchildren, viz: Anna Brisbane; Sarah Flournoy; Sarah Lawton; Elizabeth, Mary, Margaret and Catharine Lawton. I desire it to be remembered that it is not for want of parental affection that I do not place the family of my deceased son William on the same footing in the distribution of my small estate with my surviving sons. They are abundantly blessed with the goods of this world and do not need it. Issue:
William Henry Lawton, born 23 Feb 1775 at Mulberry Grove Plantation, St. Peter's Parish, Beaufort District, South Carolina, died 1 Nov 1827, same place. He was buried in the Bostick Cemetery in Hampton County. He was married to Catherine Maner on 31 October 1797, the daughter of William Maner and his wife, Jane (May) Maner. Issue:
Jane Hannah Lawton married Isadore Lartigue.
Eliza Lawton married Sidney Smith.
Thomas Lawton.
Elizabeth Lawton.
Joseph Maner Lawton, born 27 Aug 1800 on Mulberry Grove Plantation, died 5 Dec 1862 married (1) Mary Anne King of Effingham County, Georgia (2) Elizabeth Thompson (1810-1894).
William John Lawton, born 1824 on Mulberry Grove Plantation, died 1912.
Margaret Polhill Lawton, born 19 Oct 1825 on Mulberry Grove Plantation, died Dec 1891.
Joseph James Lawton, born 19 Aug 1777 at Mulberry Grove Plantation, died 23 Sep 1859 in Allendale, South Carolina. He married Phoebe Jane Mosse on 18 Oct 1798, St. Helena Island, Beaufort District, a daughter of George Mosse and his wife, Dorothy (Norton) Mosse. Issue:
George Washington Lawton, born 22 Jan 1800 Beaufort District, died 15 Jul 1802, same place.
Joseph Benjamin Lawton, born 18 Oct 1801, Beaufort District, died 15 Jan 1803, same place.
Elvira Jane Lawton, born 22 Oct 1804, Beaufort District, died 19 Dec 1804, same place.
Sarah Caroline Lawton, born 7 Dec 1805 in Beaufort District, died 4 August 1825, same place.
Mary Charlotte Lawton, born 9 Jul 1808 in Beaufort District, died 25 May 1810, same place.
James William Lawton, born 14 Apr 1810 in Beaufort District, died 25 May 1810, same place.
Joseph A. Lawton, born 9 Dec 1811 in Beaufort District.
Louisa Jane Lawton, born 30 Jun 1814 in Beaufort District.
Emily S Lawton, born 30 June 1814 in Beaufort District.
Lucretia Elvira Lawton, born 30 Dec 1816 in Beaufort District, died 1887 in Screven County, Georgia, married John Milo Miller on 9 Jan 1834.
Elizabeth Martha Lawton, born 26 Dec 1818 in Beaufort District.
Benjamin William Lawton, born 22 Dec 1822 in Beaufort District, died 5 Aug 1879 in Barnwell County, married Josephine Barksdale Polhill on 21 Oct 1845.
Mary Lawton, born 5 May 1781 at Mulberry Grove Plantation.
Benjamin Themistocles Dion Lawton, born 22 Dec 1782 at Mulberry Grove Plantation, died 18 April 1846 in Albany, Georgia. He was married to Jane Mosse on 16 June 1803 in Beaufort District. Issue:
James Stoney Lawton married Sarah Baynard.
Martha Lawton married Benjamin James Jaudon.
William Seabrook Lawton married Dorothea Furman.
Robert Thermistocles Lawton, born 15 Feb 1807 in Beaufort District, died 25 Aug 1881.
Thirza Lawton, born 1808.
Phoebe Sarah Lawton, born 7 Jul 1808, died 4 Feb 1862, married Thomas Henry Willingham.
Alexander Benjamin Lawton, born 23 Sep 1809.
Charlotte Esther Lawton (1813-1886).
Winborn Joseph Lawton, born 30 Sep 1818, di3ed 6 Sept 1884 in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia.
Mary Elizabeth Lawton, born 1823, died 31 May 1908 in Savannah, Georgia.
Charlotte Anne Lawton, born 17 Sep 1785 at Mulberry Grove, died 11 Jul 1817, buried in the Robert cemetery, Jasper County, South Carolina. She was married to James Jehu Robert in 1803 in Jasper County, son of John Robert and his wife, Elizabeth (Dixon) Robert.
Thirza Eliza Lawton, born 15 Sep 1787 at Mulberry Grove, died 3 Dec 1811 Natchez, Mississippi. She was married to Thomas Polhill.
Alexander James Lawton, born 21 Nov 1790 at Mulberry Grove, died 8 April 1876, Robertville, South Carolina. He was married to Martha Mosse on 15 Nov 1809, daughter of George Mosse and Dorothy (Norton) Moss.
Winborn Asa Lawton, born 23 June 1793 at Mulberry Grove, died 23 Feb 1878.
Samuel John Lawton, born 22 June 1796 at Mulberry Grove.
Issue of William Lawton and Mary Winborn:
Winborn Lawton, born 1745, died 22 Sept 1809 on James Island, South Carolina.
Ref: 1790 Beaufort County Census; St. Peter's Parish; The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 10, pp. 142-143; Memoirs of Georgia, Vol. 2, pp. 396-397; South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. LX, pp. 91-92; Kith and Kin, a Portrait of a Southern Family by Carolyn Harrell; Account Book 1778 1791; Cash Book 17771779; Treasury Journal 1778-1787, pp. 115.
Notes by Jeannette Holland Austin: Mulberry Grove Plantation once contained more than 18,000 acres of land and was located on both sides of the Savannah River. Apparently, Lt. Governor John Graham, Royalist, occupied this plantation on the Georgia side of the river in Savannah directly across from Beaufort District, South Carolina until after the Revolutionary War. After the war, the State of Georgia granted it to General Nathaniel Greene. These facts ask the question whether or not the Lawton family were actual pre-revolutionary war owners of the plantation. They must have purchased the South Carolina parcels after the Revolutionary War. Robertville sits overlooking the Savannah River and the Georgia border.
