James Lawson

Born in Kinross, Kinrosshire, Scotland; sailed to New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1843; worked his way up the Mississippi River to Nauvoo, Illinois, where he was baptized in 1844; reached Salt Lake Valley in 1847; blacksmith by profession; helped establish ironworks located near present-day Cedar City, Utah, in 1851; called on mission to Hawai‘i in 1852, labored on islands of Maui, Hawai‘i, and Moloka‘i before being released in 1855 due to poor health; filled second mission to Hawai‘i, 1865–67; died in Salt Lake City. (See Jenson, BE, 3:143–46; MMH, biographical sketches; “Non[a]genarian Passes to Rest,” Deseret Evening News, Sept. 16, 1912; GQC journal, frequent references, Mar. 1853–July 1854.)