Charles L. Lawrence was born on July 15, 1866, in Fort Jackson, St. Lawrence County, New York, to James O. and Julia A. (Castle) Lawrence. His family moved to Pope County, Minnesota in 1866 and later to Yankton, South Dakota, where his father became a prominent farmer and government contractor. Charles pursued a career in education and public service, serving as County Assessor and Auditor in Yankton County. He married Evangeline B. Case on December 6, 1891, and they had three children: Genevieve, Marjorie, and Bernie.
Charles L. Lawrence was born in St. Lawrence County, New York, in the town of Fort Jackson, on the 15th of July, 1866, being a son of James O. and Julia A. (Castle) Lawrence and the younger of their two children. His sister, Elizabeth M., is the wife of N. J. Johnson, of Wakonda, South Dakota. James O. Lawrence was likewise born in St. Lawrence County, New York, the date of his nativity having been 1843, and he was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, continuing to follow agricultural pursuits after attaining manhood. In 1866 he came to the west in search of a location, leaving his family in the east until he had selected a permanent place of abode. He entered a homestead claim in Pope County, Minnesota, where he erected a primitive log cabin as a domicile for his family, and he then returned to the east and brought his wife and children to the pioneer home in Minnesota, where they continued to reside until 1876, when he came to Yankton, South Dakota, this city having then been the capital of the undivided territory of Dakota, and here he turned his attention to government contracting. In the spring of 1879 he took up a pre-emption claim of one hundred and sixty acres in the northeastern part of Yankton County, and removed to this farm, which he improved and placed under effective cultivation, while he continued to add to the area of his landed estate until he became the owner of a fine farm of four hundred and forty acres. In 1894 he disposed of his property in this state and removed to Virginia, purchasing a fruit farm about twenty-five miles southwest of the city of Washington, and there his devoted wife died. In April 1902, he returned to South Dakota, taking up his residence in the attractive city of Sioux Falls, where he is now living retired from active business, being well known as one of the honored pioneers of the state. In politics he is a staunch advocate of the principles of the Republican Party, having been an active worker in its cause, but never having been a seeker of public office.
Charles L. Lawrence, the subject of this sketch, was reared on the farm and secured his educational training in the public schools. At the age of seventeen years, he put his scholastic acquirements to practical test by engaging in teaching in the district schools of Yankton County, having been thus successfully employed for several winter terms, while during the intervening summers he engaged in farm work. In November 1892, he was elected County assessor, of which office he continued incumbent for four years, having been elected his own successor at the expiration of his first term. In the summer of 1895 he assigned the detail work of this office to a deputy and then went to the village of Volin, where he accepted the position of stock buyer for the mercantile concern of the J. T. Daugherty Company. His duties in this connection were of varied order, since he maintained the general supervision of the books of the company, attended to the buying of stock, and assisted in shaping the business policy in many ways, thus contributing materially to the upbuilding of the extensive business. He continued with this concern until March 1900, when he resigned his position, and for several months thereafter he gave his attention to the supervision of his fine farm of two hundred acres in this County, and to his livestock interests. In the autumn of that year, he was elected County auditor, and he served with so great acceptability that he was chosen as his own successor in the autumn of 1902, and is now serving his second term in this important office. He has ever accorded a staunch allegiance to the Republican Party and has labored zealously to forward its cause in the local field, having been a delegate to various County and congressional conventions and being prominent in the local ranks of the “grand old party.” Fraternally he is identified with Yankton Camp, No. 732, Modern Woodmen of America.
On the 6th of December 1891, Mr. Lawrence was united in marriage to Miss Evangeline B. Case, of Yankton, and they are the parents of three children: Genevieve, Marjorie, and Bernie.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.