Robert Jones "R.J." Laurence (1820-1883) and
Susan (Haynes) Laurence
Robert Jones "R.J." Laurence, son of Henry B. and Elizabeth, was born July 3, 1820, in Granville, County, N.C., so he would have been around six years of age when the family arrived in Tennessee. He, along with his brothers Tom and Jasper were active in the early affairs of the county. R.J. served as a state representative, a post master in Camden, fought in the 14th Mississippi Infantry during the Civil War, and was an active Mason. Civil War records indicate R.J. Laurence was a Col. in Mississippi. By that time his father, Henry B., was living along with another son William Goode, in northern Mississippi at Holly Springs in Marshall County.
On March 23, 1845, R.J. married Susan Haynes, who had been born in Chatham County, N.C., daughter of Harbert Haynes and Sarah Parris. Susan’s sister Barbary married R.J.’s brother, Henry Bassett Laurence. R.J. gave land in southwest Benton County, at Mt. Carmel, for a Cumberland Presbyterian Church (also indicates a Scotch Irish heritage). This land had been inherited by his wife from her father and is the burial site for many of the Haynes family. R.J. died on his sixty-third birthday, July 3, 1883.
I searched the Mt. Carmel Cemetery several years ago and did not find the Laurences or Harbert and Sarah Haynes, Susan’s parents. However, there were several Haynes buried there. At the time of this visit, I visited with Nell Johnson, as descendant of Cordelia Clementine Laurence, a daughter of R.J. and Susan. At one time Nell had the bible of R.J. and Susan in her possession. Nell had since given the Bible to a nephew because Nell did not have children. A lady at Nell’s during my visit recalled sitting at the same kitchen table copying data from the family bible. This data is in the book Cemeteries of Benton County Tennessee and I have a copy of the pages that I got in the Dallas Texas Public Library, one of my “early finds” of my Laurence research. I do have pictures of the bible with the name of R.J. Laurence inscribed.
Children of R.J. and Susan Laurence were William Goode, Henry Bassett, Susan Millonette, Thomas Dunlop, Cordelia Clementine, Robert Jones, and Sarah Elizabeth.