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Shortly after construction
began on the Lawton residence, a problem arose that caused a delay. Charles E.
Cutter, one of the carpentry contractors, disappeared suddenly; this was no
mystery. Cutter and Potter were working on many projects at the time such as
Stewart's Block at the corner of Charlotte and Duke Streets, Reed's building on
St. James Street, the police and fire stations on King Street East, and
Lawton's home.
Cutter was missing, and so was $4,000.00 that he had in his possession. The City of Saint John had given Cutter $2,300.00 of this money for the new police station; the remainder of the money was for paying off debts and employees' wages. Potter was put in jail and, in a short time, Cutter was captured in Calais, Maine and also put in jail. All of their projects were suspended except for the Police Station.
In late December of 1877, Croff and Camp, Lawton's architects, re-tendered for the completion of Lawton's home. It is not known who the new contractor was. It is assumed that Lawton's home was completed in 1878.
157 Germain Street remained in the Lawton family until 1893. His daughter Jessie Stone, and later her estate, retained ownership of 151 Germain Street until 1927.
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Brunswick Community College - Saint John.