Lawson, John, d. 1711, English explorer of North Carolina. He came to the Carolinas in 1700 and within the next few years traveled approximately 1,000 mi (1,600 km) through its unexplored parts. His detailed, lively description of the flora, the fauna, and the Native Americans, A New Voyage to Carolina (1709), was several times reissued as the History of Carolina. Lawson was one of the incorporators (1705) of Bath, N.C. He was made surveyor general of North Carolina in 1708 and was one of the founders of New Bern, N.C. He was captured and put to death in the Tuscarora uprising of 1711.
See F. L. Harriss, ed., Lawson's History of North Carolina (1937).
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