Rheuna Drake Lawrence (1837-1901)

From the Encyclopedia of Biography of Illinois, Volume III.

  Hailing from the Illinois capital city of Springfield, the curiously named Rheuna Drake Lawrence served as mayor of that city for one term in the 1890s and had earlier distinguished himself in several endeavors in the "Land of Lincoln", including time spent as a mine manager and as city superintendent of public works.
   A native of the Buckeye State, Rheuna Drake Lawrence was born near Cedarville, Ohio on January 18, 1837, the son of Lewis W. and Sarah Minerva Lawrence. He had limited educational advantages as a youth, and while in his teens took work as a carpenter. Lawrence and a fellow carpenter would leave Ohio at an early age, hoping to make their way to Chicago. Along the way, Drake found employment as a bricklayer in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Drake would settle in Springfield in 1856, and after taking up residence, established himself as a building contractor in the still-young city. In the succeeding years, he aided in the design and construction of the Springfield Universalist Church, as well as masonry work on the Jacksonville Insane Asylum. Following his death in 1901, Lawrence's building prowess was described in a memorial notice to him in a Springfield Board of Education annual report, which noted:

"Many public and private structures were erected by him in Springfield and in other cities in Central Illinois. Blessed with robust health in early manhood, he was able to accomplish much. Endowed with great common sense, he quickly perceived and availed himself of the opportunities that existed for the investment of his earnings and profits, and at the time of his death he possessed a great deal of real estate on which he had erected buildings which adorn and beautify our city."

  In January 1859 Rheuna Lawrence married in Springfield to Mary Agnes Maxcy (1841-1905), to whom he was wed until his death. Two daughters were born to the couple, Salome Agnes Lawrence (who died in infancy in 1862), and Susan Lawrence Dana (1862-1946). Susana Lawrence would gain notoriety after she inherited her father's fortune, and with this wealth hired famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright to redesign and remodel the existing Italianate Rheuna Lawrence home, which took two years to complete. The finished work was later to be known as the Dana-Thomas House. This home, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, still exists as a tourable location and contains the "largest collection of site-specific original Wright glass and furniture."
  During the late 1860s, Lawrence began dabbling in railroad contracting, helping to design and construct a railway from Springfield to Gilman, Illinois. and later began a lasting interest in the coal mining industry. In 1872 he and several partners established a coal mining town in Barclay, Illinois, with Lawrence subsequently holding the presidency of the Barclay Mining Company for several years. In 1876 he was named by then Illinois Governor John Lourie Beveridge as a member of the commission that would eventually locate and design the Illinois State Penitentiary. He served on this commission until August of 1878 when he resigned, and within a few years was appointed to the office of Springfield Superintendent of Public Works.

                   Rheuna D. Lawrence,  courtesy of the 1996 book Frank Lloyd Wright's Dana House.
  
   Throughout the 1880s, Lawrence's public profile in Sangamon County continued on the rise, and during this period he served as President of the Springfield Board of Trade. Ten years later the citizens of Springfield elected Lawrence as its Mayor for a one-year term. During his tenure, "his administration accomplished many reforms and much was done in the way of municipal improvements." Shortly after the conclusion of his term in 1892, he was appointed as a member of the Springfield Public School Board. He served on this board for almost nine years (including six as its president) and was later appointed president of the State Board of Public Charities by Governor John Riley Tanner. This period saw Lawrence hold the additional role of president of the State Bank of Springfield, serving from 1894 until his death.
   After a "long and painful illness", Rheuna Drake Lawrence died at his Springfield home on February 17, 1901. Lawrence was interred at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, and it can certainly be said that he is buried among good company! This massive cemetery is the final resting place of numerous Illinois public figures, including Governor Ninian Edwards (1775-1833), Illinois Governor and Senator Shelby Moore Cullom (1829-1914), and last but not least, Abraham Lincoln and his family.

From the Indianapolis Journal, February 18, 1901.