William Lawrence of northern Pennsylvania visited Wisconsin on a tour of observation and purchased two claims near Beloit from Caleb Blodget; his son George W. Lawrence came and purchased claims near Beloit the same fall (the family came out in 1838).

The evidence

• “My father, William Lawrence, formerly a resident of northern Pennsylvania, visited Wisconsin, on a tour of observation, in the fall of 1836, Caleb Blodget, then of Beloit, and since deceased, claimed at that time probably thousands of acres in the town of Beloit, and in various other portions in the county of Rock, particulary along the Turtle creek. Of him my father purchased a couple of "claims," one very near the village of Beloit, the other a few miles out.”

  1856-history-of-rock-county/04-correspondence-pioneer-letters.md, PDF p. 50 / book p. 32

  Guernsey, Orrin, and Josiah F. Willard, editors. History of Rock County, and Transactions of the Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanics' Institute. Janesville, Wis.: William M. Doty & Brother, 1856. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871593.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources

• “My father, William Lawrence, formerly a resident of Northern Pennsylvania, visited Wisconsin on a tour of observation in the fall of 1836. Caleb Blodgett, then of Beloit, and since deceased, claimed at that time, probably, thousands of acres in the town of Beloit, and in various other portions of the county of Rock, particularly along the Turtle Creek ; of him my father purchased a couple of claims, one very near the village of Beloit, the other, a few miles out.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/09-rock-county-ch03-pioneer-reminiscences.md, PDF p. 345 / book p. 349

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources · may repeat 1856-history-of-rock-county, so not counted as independent