The land that today comprises Rebild National Park, south of Aalborg, was bought by Americans of Danish descent and donated to the people and nation of Denmark with a single codicil- that July 4th be celebrated there every year.
In April 1705 Lawson’s widow petitioned the crown against this final bequest and in August the Treasury, following a report from the attorney-general that ‘the codicil containing the bequest is so worded that it carries a presumption with it that the testator was not in his senses when he dictated it’, awarded the £600 to Lawson’s widow.