Probably the finest genealogical record ever compiled on the people of ancient Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, this work consists of extensive source records and documented family sketches. Collectively, what is presented here is a veritable history of a people--a "tribe" of people--who settled in the valley between the Yadkin and Catawba rivers more than two hundred years ago. The object of the book is to show where these people originated and what became of them and their descendants. Included among the source records are the various lists of the Signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration; Abstracts of Some Ancient Items from Mecklenburg County Records; Marriage Records and Relationships of Mecklenburg People; List of Public Officials of Mecklenburg County, 1775-1785; First U.S. Census of 1790 by Districts; Tombstone Inscriptions; and Sketches of the Mecklenburg Signers. The work concludes with indexes of subjects and places, as well as a name index of 5,000 persons. (Part III of "Lost Tribes of North Carolina.")

William Lawson (b.1793) moved from Virginia to North Carolina, Kentucky and several counties in Missouri before settling in Dallas County, Missouri during or before 1850. Descendants lived in Missouri, Washington, New Mexico and elsewhere.