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David Lawson
18 April 1886, Glasgow - 10 May 1980, New York, NY
Lawson is known to the chess world primarily because of his authorship of Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess, first published in 1976, and undoubtedly his life's work. He started his research in 1938, travelled widely in search of material, published articles about Morphy and collected Morphy memorabilia. He was 90 when the work appeared in print.
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| 1976 | 2010 |
A new edition, edited by Thomas Aiello, appeared in 2010, but with some of the material reorganised or deleted, and without the 60 games included in the earlier work. An Editor's Introduction was provided, in which Mr Aiello provided some information about Lawson's work and his personal life, including photographs of him and his first wife. Mention was made of the fact that Lawson married three times, and fascinating, useful material about the first of these wives was given. However, there were no details of his second marriage at all, and his third wife was mentioned only by her given name. The material that follows is an attempt, therefore, to fill in some of the gaps.
What's In a Name?
Charles William Matthew Howie - name registered
at birth
John Whipple - on ship's manifest, Glasgow-New York 1890
Charles Whipple - baptised April 21, 1895, Trinity Church, Ware, MA
Charles Lawson - 1900 U.S. census (Whipple entered, but struck out)
David Lawson was born 18 April 1886 at 20 Norfolk Street
in the Gorbals district of Glasgow. His name was officially recorded
by his mother as
Charles William Matthew Howie (Illegitimate)
The Register of Corrected Entries for the District of Gorbals, dated 13 October 1886, indicated that because of an action raised and the decision of the Sheriff Substitute of Lanarkshire on 1 October 1886, the name of Hison Payne Whipple - then residing at 390 St Vincent Street, Glasgow - should be inserted before the name of the mother in the birth register.
When his mother took him to the USA in 1890, his name was recorded on the ship's manifest as John Whipple. Later, in 1895, he was baptised Charles Whipple, and after his mother married Wilfred Lawson in 1893, he was known by that family name, initially as Charles Lawson, though he later chose to be called David Lawson.
Lawson himself said that he had lived in Boston before moving to New York around 1910. Because of his interest in Socialism, he joined the Ferrer Association on St Mark's Place (it later moved to East 12th St). It was here that he met Lola Ridge, the woman who would become his first wife, though the marriage was some years in the future.
It is not known what connections Lawson had to the New York chess scene in general, or what first inspired him to begin his research. However, he did mention in his book that he had lived in New Orleans at one point, and had visited Morphy house on Royal Street many times over the years.
Interestingly, though, there may be a connection through Alfred Kreymborg (1883-1966), a poet, novelist and literary editor who published some of Lola Bridge's work. Kreymborg, who was also involved in the formation of the Bronx Chess Club, has been written about by Edward Winter here.
In his later years, Lawson was a witness to the rise of Bobby Fischer. He was even present in the Manhattan Chess Club in 1956 when Fischer defeated Donald Byrne in what became known as 'The Game of the Century,' celebrating afterwards with Fischer and his mother.
David Lawson died 10 May 1980 in Brooklyn, NY.
Father
Hison Paine Whipple
was born 24 February 1835 in Cumberland, Rhode Island, U.S.A. (An
author has mentioned that he was descended from Captain William
Whipple, whose signature is on the U.S. Declaration of Independence.)
In the U.S. Census for California 1870, Whipple is shown as a Preacher. This fits with several British newspaper reports in the 1880s of him preaching the Gospel and begging in the streets:-
-
in a report from Manchester, April 1883, it stated that Hison claimed to have arrived in England a few weeks before and that in response to his preaching, he expected people to provide him with food and lodging.
(The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, Wednesday, April 25, 1883, p6.) -
in July 1884, Hison was charged with causing an obstruction in Hope Street, Glasgow, having caused a crowd to gather because of his preaching. At his court case, he was found guilty and the Magistrate imposed a fine of 20 shillings or seven days in jail and 'for want of money Whipple was led to a cell.'
(Evening Citizen, Thursday, July 17, 1884, p2.) -
in May 1885, at Plantation Police Court, Govan, Whipple (and another) were charged with 'having conducted themselves in a violent, outrageous and disorderly manner by using indecent language.' The Magistrate 'characterised their conduct as odd and eccentric, but did not see that he could convict them.'
(
However, when Whipple appeared in court, the case was dismissed.
Edinburgh Evening News, Tuesday, 3 August 1886, p2.
Departure from Scotland and death soon
after
Nothing is known of Whipple's activities in the next few
years until he is recorded leaving Glasgow on the
ship State of Indiana, which arrived in New York on April 12,
1888.
Whipple died June 5, 1888 at Diamond Hill, Cumberland, Providence, Rhode Island.
Mother
Helen Robertson Howie was born 30 August 1868
at 28 South Tay Street, Dundee. She was alternatively referred to as
as Nellie or Ellen.
In the 1881 census she is shown, age 13, at 46 New Street, Calton, Glasgow, along with her mother and three siblings.
As mentioned above, at the time of her son's birth in April 1886, she was living at 20 Norfolk Street, Gorbals, Glasgow.
On September 11, 1890 she sailed on the Anchoria from Glasgow to New York, arriving there September 23. She is recorded on the manifest as Mrs Nellie Whipple (23), travelling with her son Jno (John) Whipple (4). It is not known whether Helen was aware of Hison Whipple's death.
On July 19, 1893, at Ware, Massachusetts, she married Wilfred Linwood Lawson (1865-1940), who had immigrated from Yorkshire, England. They had two children; Ruth Ellen Lawson (1894-1927) and Fred Alexander Lawson (1896-1956).
In the 1900 census - shown as Ellen Lawson - she is living at Plesant [sic-Pleasant] Street, Ware, MA. Her Scottish-born son was recorded as 'Whipple, Charles', but Whipple was struck out. [Note: Ancestry.com, misreading the handwriting on the original document, has listed the family name as 'Samson' and the son as 'Whistler.']
In the 1910 census the family is living on Chestnut Street, Ware, MA. There is no mention of her Scottish-born son.
Helen died 25 November 1944 at Ware, MA.
Lola Ridge
1873 - 1941
Lawson's first wife, an artist and poet, used more names than David Lawson. She was born Rose Emily Ridge in Dublin on 19 December 1873. She was taken to Australia by her mother in 1877, later moving to New Zealand.
After her mother married again, she was known as Rosalie McFarlane. In 1895 she married Peter Webster in New Zealand. They had two children; the first died two weeks after his December 1896 birth; the second, Keith Webster, was born 21 January 1900.
At some point her marriage failed and she, her son and her mother moved to Australia, arriving in Sydney in November 1903. She continued to write, but though her editors knew her as Rose or Rosa Webster, she did not use her married name, preferring to use 'Lola' or Lola Ridge.
After her mother died in August 1907, Lola took her son to North America, travelling under the assumed name, Sybill Robson, while her son had been renamed Eric Robson. The ship - Moana - travelled to Honolulu and then on to British Columbia. The passengers then boarded another vessel - City of Puebla - which arrived in San Francisco on 30 September 1907.
It wasn't long before she was noticed, being mentioned in a March 1908 magazine as 'Lola Ridge, a young Australian poet and artist, who is not without fame in her own land.' Soon, though, she started calling herself Rosa Bernand and her son Keith Bernand, and placed her son in an orphanage. She sailed from San Francisco to New York on the Finance, arriving there on 27 March 1908. She identified herself as 'Miss Lola Ridge', conveniently forgetting about her marriage. She had already disguised her real age on the journey from Australia, and she would deduct at least 10 years from her age in all subsequent dealings, including census records. This was possible at a time when there were no passports and confirmation of such matters was less rigourous.
Lawson and Lola left New York in 1912 and travelled around the USA for five years. While living in New Orleans they sent for Lola's son, still known as Keith Bernand, who joined them for the next several years. All moved to Detroit around 1917, but Lola and Lawson then left Keith there and returned to New York.
Lawson and Lola married on 22 October 1919 but, interestingly, they did not do so in New York, the city that was important to both of them. Instead the ceremony was held in Greenwich, Connecticut, where the register of marriages shows Lola Bernard, which may be a misreading of Bernand in the application for a licence, or a typographical error.
Lola Ridge died 19 May 1941 at the home she was sharing with Lawson at 111 Montague Street, Brooklyn, NY. Her deceptions held to the end, her age at death being recorded as 57 in official documents and obituaries, when she was actually in her 68th year. Lawson, who carried out meticulous research on Morphy, appears to have either been kept in the dark about much of Lola's life and family or he chose to go along with the deception. For example, in the 1925 NY State Census Lawson is shown as 35, when he was actually 39, and Lola Ridge is shown as 28, when she was 52.
Lola's son, Keith Bernand, who was no doubt emotionally affected by his mother's actions towards him, committed suicide in Santiago, Chile on 10 December 1942, leaving behind a wife and three children.
Further reading about Lola Ridge can be found in:-
http://weird-sister.com/2016/02/15/sex-permeates-everything-the-poetry-of-lola-ridge/
http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/kmko/12/ka_mate12_leggott01.asp
https://oztypewriter.blogspot.com/search?q=Lola+ridge
Rosalind Bernstein
1906 - 1982
From the Author's Acknowledgments in Lawson's book:
And to my wife, Rosalind, I owe much for help and patience in the preparation of the material for this biography of Paul Morphy. This is the culmination of some years of trial for her, what with the time I have spent engrossed with my Morphy material and in the search for more. I may add, her help in the reading and correcting of the manuscript has been invaluable.
Rosalind Lipsie was born 19 September 1906 in Boston to Louis Lipsie and Nellie Grey. By the time of the 1920 census, however, her mother was living with a Nathaniel Bernstein in Quincy, MA and Rosalind was shown with that family name. The 1930 census shows the family living at East 196 St in the Bronx, NY.
David Lawson and Rosalind Bernstein applied for a marriage licence in Manhattan, NY in 1957.
It appears that Rosalind may have helped Lawson with his Morphy research in Europe, for records show them arriving in New York November 11, 1958 on a flight from Paris.
Rosalind Lawson died November 1982 in Brooklyn, NY.
Chess Life, September 1980, p13.
Whipple family history website, including references to Daviud Lawson at
https://genweb.whipple.org/d0259/I47887.html
Anarchist Voices:
An Oral History of Anarchism in America, by Paul Avrich (AK Press,
2005).
Alan McGowan
Archivist/Historian, Chess Scotland
Added 9/5/2020
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