1782 dated Continental Army Connecticut Line Bond issued to Josiah Evans and Signed by J. Lawrence

The Connecticut Line was a formation within the Continental Army. The term “Connecticut Line” referred to the quota of numbered infantry regiments assigned to Connecticut by the Continental Congress at various times. The size of this allocation was determined by Connecticut’s population compared to other states. These regiments, along with similarly apportioned contingents from the other twelve states, formed the Continental Line. This concept was particularly crucial in promoting commissioned officers. Officers below the rank of brigadier general were usually ineligible for promotion except in their own state.

During the war, 27 infantry regiments were assigned to the Connecticut Line. This included the eight provincial regiments from 1775, Wooster’s Provisional Regiment (formed by consolidating the remnants of the original 1st, 4th, and 5th Regiments), the five numbered Continental regiments from 1776, the eight Connecticut regiments from 1777, S.B. Webb’s Additional Continental Regiment (which later became the 9th Connecticut Regiment), and four new regiments created by consolidation in 1781.

John Lawrence (1719–1802) was a prominent public official in colonial and post-revolutionary Connecticut. He is best known for his long tenure as the Treasurer of the Colony (and later State) of Connecticut. Born in Boston on June 11, 1719, he was the son of Captain John Lawrence and Maryane Lawrence. He eventually settled in Hartford, where he established himself as a respected “Esquire” and dedicated civil servant.

Lawrence’s career spanned several decades of significant political transformation. During the tumultuous years of the American Revolution, he managed the region’s finances. His personal life was centered in Hartford, where he married Margaret Lawrence and raised a large family with at least twelve children. Beyond his official duties as State Treasurer, which he held from 1769 to 1789, he was deeply involved in the civic life of Connecticut’s capital. Lawrence passed away in Hartford on December 25, 1802, at the age of 83, and was interred at the Ancient Burying Ground.

Josiah James Evans (November 27, 1786 – May 6, 1858) was born in Marlborough district in South Carolina to Thomas Evans, a prominent Revolutionary War soldier and South Carolina legislator, and Elizabeth Hodges. He graduated third in his class from South Carolina College in 1808. In 1813, he married Dorthea DeWitt, daughter of Captain William DeWitt. Evans studied law under his brother-in-law and admitted to the bar in 1811.

He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1812. During his legal career, he successfully defended the will of Mason Lee, a case that set precedent on the validity of wills. In 1829, he was appointed as a judge for the Court of General Sessions and Common Pleas. In 1835, he was appointed to the South Carolina Supreme Court, where he served until 1852.

In 1853, he was elected to the United States Senate. He served as a United States Senator from South Carolina for 1853 to 1858. He was a Democrat. During his time in the Senate he was chairman of the committees on auditing the contingency expenses of the Senate and Revolutionary Claims.

He died in Washington, D.C., shortly before his first term was to expire. He is buried at Trinity Episcopal Church near his ancestral home on Society Hill, Darlington County, South Carolina. Evans Correctional Institution is named in his memory.