George Pelton Lawrence (May 19, 1859 – November 21, 1917) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts.

Early life and education

Born in Adams, Massachusetts, Lawrence was the son of Dr. George C. Lawrence and his wife, Jane E. Pelton, and also the nephew of New York City Congressman Guy Ray Pelton. He graduated from Drury Academy in 1876 and from Amherst College in 1880. Lawrence studied law at the Columbia Law School. On June 12, 1889, Pelton married Susannah Hope Bracewell (1866-1914).

Legal career

Lawrence was admitted to the bar in 1883 and commenced practice in North Adams.

Public service

Judgeship

Lawrence was appointed judge of the judicial district of northern Berkshire, County in 1885. Lawrence resigned his judgeship in 1894 upon being elected to the Massachusetts Senate.

Massachusetts Senate

Lawrence served in the senate from 1895 to 1897 and was its President, in 1896 and 1897.

Congressional service

Lawrence was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Ashley B. Wright. Lawrence was reelected to the Fifty-sixth and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from November 2, 1897, to March 3, 1913. While in Congress Lawrence was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Fifty-ninth through Sixty-first Congresses).

Post Congressional career

Lawrence was not a candidate for renomination in 1912, and from July 1 to September 17, 1913, was a member of the Massachusetts Public Service Commission.

Death

Lawrence jumped from an eighth-floor window and fell to his death, at the Belmont Hotel, New York, New York; interment was in Hillside Cemetery, North Adams.