fur trader, b. Bristol, England. He was educated in Quebec. After moving to Green Bay in 1797 and clerking for his uncle, Jacob Franks (q.v.), Lawe spent the next few winters trading with the Indians in the region between Green Bay and the Mississippi. In 1805 he acquired land from his uncle on which he later completed construction of a sawmill and gristmill. In the following years he sometimes traded independently, and sometimes joined other traders in the Michilimackinac Company or the Green Bay Company, but eventually became a trader for Astor's American Fur Company. For years his trading post on the Lower Fox was a landmark for travelers, and Lawe was the settlement's well-known and well-loved landlord. In the War of 1812 he supported the British cause and participated in the campaign against Mackinac, but in 1820 he was made an associate judge of the Brown County court. With the diminishing quantity of furs, the trade slackened but, knowing no other occupation, Lawe continued his trading, constantly sinking deeper into debt to Astor, until finally he lost most of his valuable and extensive lands. Colls. State Hist. Soc. Wis., 7, 19, 20; Proc. State Mist. Soc. Wis., 1920 (1921); K. W. Porter, J. J. Astor (2 vols., Cambridge, 1931); WPA MS.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the John Lawe and George W. Lawe Papers for details.

View a related article at Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]