John Lawrence

John Lawrence (1618–1699) was Mayor of New York City from 1672 to 1674, and again in 1691. Life Thomas Lawrence, the first known Lawrence to arrive in the United States, landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1635. He later moved to Ipswich, Massachusetts, and later yet to Long Island. In 1644, he was one of the patentees of Hempstead under grant by Dutch Colonial Governor Willem Kieft. In 1645, Kieft granted the patent of Flushing to Lawrence and 16 others, which was confirmed by English Colonial Governor Richard Nicolls in 1666. In 1658, Lawrence moved to New Amsterdam. New Amsterdam was renamed New York on September 8, 1664, in honor of the Duke of York (later James II of England), in whose name the English had captured it. In 1663, Lawrence was appointed by Governor Pieter Stuyvesant as a Commissioner to negotiate with the General Court at Hartford to determine the boundary between New England and New Netherland.