Robert Ralston Lawther was born in 1836 in Warren County, Pennsylvania to James Lawther and Jane Hood Lawther. He was one of seven children born to the couple. Lawther was engaged in the mercantile business in his early life. While working in Iowa on 1858, he was married to Ellen E. Hoopes and together they had a family of seven children of their own, Harry P., Annie L., Fredda A., Joseph Earl, William James, Raymond Ralston and Paul Warner Lawther between 1859 and 1882.
They moved to Jefferson City, Missouri. Robert was an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War. He enlisted in the state troops and was later elected a major of the 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment. He moved to Galveston, Texas after the war, engaging in the wholesale grocery business. In the 1870 census they were still living in Galveston. By 1880 they had relocated to Washington County where Robert was farming. They subsequently relocated to Brenham and then Dallas, where he founded a successful wholesale grain and feed business called Lawther Grain Company. Over the years, several family members joined in the business and as many as three generations were involved. One son, Joe Lawther, served as the 33rd mayor of Dallas. A little more than ten years after White Rock Lake was established, the Dallas Park Board named Lawther Drive in honor of Joe Lawther.
Robert Lawther died in 1911, Ellen in 1914 and both are buried at the historic Oakland Cemetery in Dallas.
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