George Lawrence Mabson
American politician
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George Lawrence Mabson (1846 – October 4, 1885) was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives and the North Carolina State Senate, as well as the North Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1875.[1]
George Lawrence Mabson was born in 1846 in Wilmington, North Carolina.[2] He was the son of a black woman, Eliza Moore, and a prominent white man, George W. Mabson.[1] His brother was William P. Mabson, who was also a politician.
In the 1854, he was sent to Boston to attend school.[3] During the Civil War, Mabson first served in the United States Navy and then joined Company G, 5th Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment in February 1864 and mustered out in Clarksville, Texas, a full Command Sergeant.[1][4] After earning a degree from Howard University Law School, he became the first black lawyer in North Carolina.[1] He was also active in the Republican Party.[2] In 1870, he unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives.[1] He was elected to the North Carolina State Senate in 1872 representing New Hanover.[5]
He was the nephew of William B. Gould and correspond with him frequently during the Civil War.[6][1] In the 1880s, a child who was likely either his son or nephew lived with and worked for Gould in Dedham, Massachusetts.[6]
Mabson was elected president of the J. C. Abbott Post 15 chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic when it organized in Wilmington in 1884.[7]
Mabson died on October 4, 1885, at his home in Wilmington,[8] and was buried at Pine Forest Cemetery in Wilmington.