He became the first popularly elected mayor of New York City after the law was changed in 1834.

Lawrence attended the public schools and worked on his father's farm.

He moved to New York City in 1812 to embark on a business career, first at the Shotwell, Hicks & Co. auctioneering firm, and later as a partner in the wholesale dry goods firm of Hicks, Lawrence & Co. Lawrence was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress, serving from March 4, 1833, to May 14, 1834, when he resigned, becoming mayor of New York (1834–1837).

[3] Lawrence died in Flushing (the same place he was born in) on February 20, 1861, 8 days shy of his 70th birthday.

He was interred in the family burying ground in Bayside, New York.