[1][2] A member of the Philolexian Society, he graduated from Columbia in 1818 and was admitted to the bar in 1823, after studying at Litchfield Law School.

When he returned to the United States in 1829 he practiced law with Hamilton Fish, and worked on the executive committee to promote the building of the Erie Railroad.

After his time in politics, he wrote essays and books about international law, and he argued a case before the United States Supreme Court in 1873.

[4] He also wrote a letter to the "Journal des Débats" in 1860 defending slavery for its uplifting of Black slaves under a superior race and criticized the French for their position on abolition by pointing to the imports that France, and the rest of the world, get in cotton from the United States.

Together, they had several children, including:[1] Lawrence died in March 1881 in New York City while seeking medical treatment.