John Lawson, railroad engineer extraordinaire, was born in 1805. He emigrated to America in 1829. He became the very first Railroad Engineer in the United States at the age of twenty nine! Lawson arrived in Paducah about 1840. He owned steamboats and went by the name of Captain Jack. He was later a Confederate soldier during the Civil War with the 3rd Kentucky CSA...at the advanced age of 56! Years later, President Grover Cleveland honored him with a political appointment; that of the acting engineer for the erection of the Federal Building in Paducah, located on Broadway! A lifelong Democrat, Lawson's first presidential vote was for Andrew Jackson, and his last, for William McKinley. Lawson died in 1901.