Birthdate: on 20 NOV 1905
Birthplace: Franklin, Macon, North Carolina, USA
Deathdate: on 20 NOV 1966 (in Peekskill, Westchester, New York, USA)
Today, Callie’s children describe her as having been quiet. She was born in Franklin, North Carolina to Joseph Elexander Stewart and Minnie Carrie Ann McDonnell. She was the third youngest of seven.
In 1920, she was living with her family in the Trymont community, where several African Americans in Franklin lived.
She attended school and did know how to read and write.
She married Clifford Berten Lawrence at the age of 25 in Georgia (Patent Trader, 1966).
Moving to Kent Cliffs, New York was certainly an adjustment for her, as she often did not understand the ways of urban life. According to her children, she was often homesick, being eager to hear any communication from her family in Franklin.
She attended church services at the Kent-Fishkill Baptist Church in Kent Cliffs and at one point, attended services at the Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Peekskill, New York.
One daughter remembers having a favorite cow on their land in Kent Cliffs.
After her husband passed away, she would continue to operate the Carmel Valet Service laundromat by herself until 1958. While working, she met Ray Dixon, a man who worked as a chauffeur for the local country club. Unable to drive on her own, Ray often helped drive her around wherever she needed to go. It was during this time period that Ray and his young daughter, Barbara, became integral members of the Lawrence family. Perhaps in return for his driving assistance, Callie would take in Barbara and take care of her as her own child. The youngest Lawrence children would grow up with Barbara and come to know her as their sister.
Callie passed away on her birthday in 1966 at the Peekskill Community Hospital. She was buried at the Union and Halstead Cemetery in Kent Cliffs, Putnam County, New York.