Clarence, John and Virgil Lawson, sons of John Lawson and
Emma Peterson, lost their parents when they were 22, 21 and 17. Their father, John, was born in Sweden on
December 15, 1843 and died near Elgin on December 15, 1898. He came to America in 1864 and married
Hannah Larson of Bement, Illinois and had a daughter, Rena, who was a
half-sister of the Lawson brothers. John, Hannah and Rena, along with John’s brother, Pete, came to
Nebraska in 1879 and settled southwest of Elgin. Hannah died and John married Emma Peterson on September 8,
1887. She had come to America from
Sweden. She was born on February 15,
1856 and died on June 19, 1911. She
was a sister of W. A. Peterson, the pioneer doctor of Elgin and E. O. Peterson,
the optometrist and jeweler.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in Aug 2007