Last Updated on March 17, 2012 by
Harry A. Lawrence, who for a number of years has been a factor in the business life of Wichita and in other parts of the Southwest, was born at Wichita December 5, 1884. He attended the city schools and in 1903 graduated from Lewis Academy of Wichita, and in 1906 finished the course at Hanover College in Indiana.
On leaving college he entered the employ of Davidson & Case Lumber Company as auditor for their Oklahoma business. In May, 1913, Mr. Lawrence and his brother Charles S. bought the Orient Lumber Company, immediately reorganizing it as the King-Lawrence Lumber Company, which they now conduct with Harry A. as secretary and treasurer. This company now has seven lumber yards in Kansas and Oklahoma, and it is one of the leading concerns of the kind in the two states. Harry A. Lawrence is also a director in the Farmers & Bankers Life Insurance Company and the Citizens Building & Loan Association.
On December 31, 1913, he married Bertha Hartwell, daughter of Senator James H. Stewart of Wichita. They have one daughter, Margaret Alden, born January 19, 1915.