A F. P. Lawson were enumerated 26 July 1860, in the Muddy Fork Township, Post Office Wilton, Pike County, Arkansas Census as living in his parents household. It indicates Franklin's age is 8 years and born in Alabama.

From Lawson Letters #23. "Franklin Pierce Lawson, the son of Daniel Lawson and Rebecka Skaggs, was born in Alabama on the 29th of January 1852. Two brothers were John and Will; later came Nancy and Alexander; others not yet found.

Still a young man, Frank became aware of the necessity for hard work on a farm. Faced with the ever-present danger of the Union Army patrols scouring the land, the family had developed its own means of guerrilla warfare. Plowing the fields with an ox was difficult, but holding its tail and hiding oneself behind it was not. From this vantage point, he could both plow and watch for the patrols. First sign of movement and a quick run home.
Franklin's father was not a Confederate soldier. As an elected official (depending on the meaning and use of the term 'squire') he was exempt from the duty, but views were always shaded gray. He died during the Civil War and left the family to fend for itself before peace had been made.

Soldiers needed grain for their horses. Supplies were short, so it was a matter of survival for the family to know when the soldiers, especially blue ones, were nearby. Commodities were secretly hidden -- and even littlest Nancy knew not to tell. The soldiers knew, but .....

The end came and tiring of the destruction, new government, and changing times, the family followed the trend so common to the history of the times. Go West young man. Exactly when the trek was made, or how, or where to is still vague. Our first record of Frank is in Ellis County, Texas, south of Fort Worth, then simply "cowtown".

He married Verdonna Texas Martin, named after a state as were her sisters, in 1877. Her father had died in 1864, at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee (2nd battle), and the family had left native Upshur County to move southwest. By 1880, the first son, Andrew Jackson was born. There would be 7 more.

By 1880, we see that Frank was still housing unmarried Nancy, now age 25; grandma; a brother now paralyzed -- Alexander; a wife and son. Exactly when brothers John and Will approached Frank about the grand scheme to go north to Indian Territory is not known; but it must have been convincing.

Unfortunately, the quick lands, fast money promised, bad times, and the pioneer hardships (a bad cold) killed Frank in 1892. The brothers split, Nancy married Billy Jordan, grandma went with John, the eldest and Verdonna just returned to Ellis County.

Leaving one child buried in uncharted lands, taking six home, one not yet born, must have been a challenge. Thing were bad then, but she made it. She raised them all, watched them all marry, and then 69 years after her husband died joined him -- age 102 years."

Franklin P. and Dona Lawson were enumerated in the 1880 District 51, Ellis County, Texas Census. His age was given as 27 years and born in Alabama.

Family Tree Maker’s CD-Volume #45.

• Married: 18 NOV 1877 in Ellis County, Texas

1. Andrew Jackson LAWSON b: 15 OCT 1878 in Ellis County, Texas
2. John Bose 'Johnny' LAWSON b: 29 OCT 1880 in Ellis County, Texas
3. Nancy Rebecca LAWSON b: 14 MAR 1883 in Ellis County, Texas
4. Lorenzo Daniel LAWSON b: 1 JUL 1885 in Ellis County, Texas
5. Bessie Ethel Lee LAWSON b: 17 NOV 1887 in Ellis County, Texas
6. Franklin Pierce LAWSON b: 14 JAN 1890 in Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas
7. Myrtle Lee LAWSON b: 12 DEC 1892 in Ozro, Ellis County, Texas