| Notes |
- From Floyd H. Lawson, November 1998:
Luther Franklin Lawson and Mary Emily Teresa Ingle Lawson are found by different names in the census. Dad first appeared in the 1880 census. Mother appears first in the 1900 Census. The 1900 census is not extant. An article in the Daily Mountain Eagle - Jasper, Alabama; 10 December 1981-----"100 years old", Emily Ingle celebrates a century of life today.----
Emily Ingle Lawson was born a century ago, just a few miles down the road from the small green house in Nauvoo where she's celebrating 100 years of memories with friends and relatives today.
She looks wan and fragile at first propped up on pillows in the hospital bed in her bedroom, but a few minutes spent talking with the spunky little lady quickly dispel the first impression of frailty.
She has a dry wit that will bring tears of laughter to your eyes, a friendly smile and blue eyes that sometimes seem to be twinkling in amusement at your expense.
And Mrs. Lawson refuses to believe that she's really 100 years old. She wastes no time and uses no fancy language to let you know just what she thinks of the suggestion that she's been around that long.
For those who persist in demanding to know her age, Mrs. Lawson has a ready answer, "Oh, about 10, I reckon". She was born Mary Emily Theresa Ingle, quite a string of names for the new and last baby in a large Nauvoo family. "And if there had been any more they could think of , they'd a put it there, I reckon," she says. Mrs. Lawson attended school at Ashbank, a small country school near Nauvoo, learning to read and spell from the traditional blueback speller, and learning at some point now long forgotten the poem "Baby Bye" which she recites at length to all visitors. "I don't know where I learned that," she smiles. "I guess I've known it all my life." She met her husband, Luther Franklin Lawson, at school and they were married in March of 1899. "I always called him 'Lush,' she confides. "And he was a good one (husband). You know, a lot of 'em gets 'em and kicks 'em out, but I held on to Lush."
Mrs. Lawson had a large family of her own - nine children - and she was there for the birth of countless babies born in the Nauvoo area in the late 1800's and early to mid 1900's. A midwife, she often assisted Dr. Howard Sankey of Nauvoo.
She scoffs at the suggestion that midwifery was a difficult job. "Scared? Not me. I knew what I was doing whether they knew what I was doing or not."
When Lawson died 1 Apr 1965, Mrs. Lawson lived with various daughters and sons until ten years ago, when she moved back to the house where she spent her married years to live with daughter Ellen and son-in-law Jack Johnson.
Mrs. Johnson is hostessing a large birthday party for her mother today, "an all-day affair, with dinner".
And what does the birthday girl want for her 100th celebration? "I want butter and molasses," Mrs. Lawson says. "And a birthday cake, rose-flavored. And a new dress, a red one." Lush and Emma Lawson share a double gravestone and are buried at the Ashbank Cemetery, on county road 59, just north of Nauvoo, Winston County, Alabama. On their tomb, their names are listed as Lush and Emma.
Burial Place Exceeded Limit: Ashbank Cemetery, North Of Nauvoo, In Winston County, Alabama - - -FHLawson 26 Jan 1996
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1881 - 1984 (102 years)
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