Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1910-1957 (Creation)
Extent
0.93 cubic feet
Name of creator
Biographical history
Martin Emert Lawson (1867-1956), American judge, was born on May 15, 1867 near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. When he was four, his family moved to a new home near Ellisville, Illinois. Three years later, the family moved to Osborn, Missouri.
At twenty, Lawson attended Gem City Business College in Quincy, Illinois. After graduation he moved to Kansas City and worked in a grocery store, where he was introduced to the Grand Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Eventually he studied law, passed the Missouri bar in 1890, and joined a law office as a partner. In the meantime, Lawson became active in his local church. He served as Sunday School superintendent for thirty years.
In the Missouri Conference, he served as member and eventual president of the Board of Church Extension, and was a member of the Board of Education and Board of Missions.
On October 20, 1894, he married Kate Riley. Kate died on October 30, 1949. They had two children, James E. and Nancy.
Lawson was active in the general church in both the annual conference and general conference levels. He was instrumental in drawing up plans for the 1939 merger for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Lawson helped form the Judicial Council, known originally in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as the Court of Appeals. He was an initial member of the Court and helped to shape what later became the Judicial Council's policies in both the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and Methodist Church.
Lawson died on January 1, 1956 in Liberty, Missouri.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The collection includes clippings that pertain mainly to the union of the Methodist Church, a eulogy for Lawson, program for "Judge Lawson Day" at the Liberty Methodist Church, opinions of the Court of Appeals, court decisions, and an original signed copy of the opinion of the Judicial Council of the Methodist Episcopal Church South on the matter of the unification of Methodism. The collection also includes several booklets and periodicals; an October 1932 edition of the newspaper Christian Standard, Volume 7 of The Methodist Layman for 1930, a June 1956 edition of the Missouri Methodist, a 1939 edition of the Christian Advocate and several other booklets discussing Methodism. There are many letters, to and from Martin E. Lawson, photographs, a biography of the judge and ephemera concerning the fifth and sixth Ecumenical Conferences.
System of arrangement
The collection is arranged by material type within the box and then placed chronologically within the individual folders.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
There are no restrictions regarding this collection.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Ivan Lee Holt Collection
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Judge Martin E. Lawson Papers, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the item's call number as that is not a stable descriptor.
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Archivist's note
Prepared by Sofia Novozilova, Student Assistant and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist
Access points
Subject access points
Name access points
- Methodist Episcopal Church, South (Subject)
- Methodist Church (U.S.) (Subject)