Edwards Genealogy of Colonial Virginia

If you're a colonial Edwards researcher, you've likely seen his name all over the internet. The information usually runs something like this: William Harrison Edwards, b. Apr. 9, 1720 in Wales d. Apr. 30, 1808 in Claiborne Co., TN (other sources might say KY). Married to Polly Creamer/Cramer b. Aug. 5, 1721 (or 1731), d.1794. Married second to Sarah Evart Cantrell (1733-1807).  Some sources will even give an earlier wife as Jane Taylor. Virtually every source gives his parents as Thomas Edwards and Isabelle Downing. Information about William is usually sparse, but may involve claims that he had lived in Orange or Chowan County, North Carolina; had owned an iron furnace near Mount Sterling, Kentucky ; moved to Gallatin County, Kentucky "to live with his son, John" and co-founded Big Barren Baptist Church in what was then Hawkins County, Tennessee. William is said by some accounts to be the father of a very large family: Drucilla, Peter, Isaac, Alexander, David, Willia...

Virgil Anson Lewis Here is another Edwards Heirs mystery solved. The Edwards Heirs Association newsletter claimed that Arthur Edwards, who married Jane Withrow and was buried in Mason County, West Virginia in 1820, was a son of Thomas Nathaniel Edwards Jr. But his actual parentage appears to have already been established by a competent historian using original records quite a while back. They were Hugh and Elizabeth Edwards of Augusta County, Virginia. Per information from his Findagrave memorial : Arthur, a Revolutionary War soldier, was in the battle of "Guilford Courthouse" under General Gates. In 1783, he bought land in the Shenandoah Valley, in Augusta Co, VA. Five years later, he moved to Greenbrier County and joined the settlers in and near Cook's Fort (now Monroe, Co, WV). Isaac, son of Arthur and Jane (Withrow) Edwards, was 10 years old when the family came to Cook's Fort. At that time, there were five children. The rest of the 12, (four boys and eight ...

If you're familiar with the Stafford County Edwards family, you've probably seen something like this: Mary Edwards (c.1713-1767) married Joseph Coombes or Combs (c.1708-1763) of Stafford County (or Loudoun County), Virginia. The dates vary a little, but they are almost always said to be from Stafford, born shortly after the turn of the 18th century.  Mary is usually said to be the daughter of a John Edwards, sometimes John Edwards and Lucy Gray, who were supposedly from the Surry County Edwards line, other times a John Edwards of Stafford County who was supposedly born in 1682 and died April 14, 1747. As you might expect if you've leafed through my blog posts on the Edwards family, this is claim is likely the result of confusion between unrelated people. But thanks to the fantastic genealogical research posted years ago at Combs-Families.org , this mistake is easy enough to clear up. The evidence for the maiden name of Mary Coombes is the family bible of Henry Eves of Kent...

I have run into a lot of Uriah Edwards descendants over the past couple of years. He is universally everyone's "brick wall" ancestor. As far back as 1901, this led Edwards Fortune scammers to sweep him into their genealogical dumpster fire, as I pointed out in a previous post . The truth is, I don't know who his parents were, but I thought I'd try to shed some light on what we do know about him and hopefully lead genealogists in the right direction. What do we know about Uriah Edwards? He first appears in the order books of Spotsylvania County, Virginia in the 1750s.  In an old typed genealogy of unknown origin titled "The Family: From Virginia to the Pacific", dated 1974, Uriah's parents are identified as "John Edwards II and unknown wife." It notes Uriah can be placed in Spotsylvania County, Virginia via public records as early as 1753, when he appears "as a party to an apprenticeship." The author states that Uriah was by trade...

Look around Edwards genealogy on the internet and you'll see this claim: John Edwards b. Feb. 8, 1683 Denbighshire, Wales d. Mar. 6, 1757 Rockingham County (or Spotsylvania County, etc.), Virginia Usually this person is said to be married to someone called "Jane Everington (Arrington)." He is sometimes associated with the Cherry Grove Plantation of King William County, Virginia, which according to Peyton Neale Clark was founded by Ambrose Edwards around 1745. Clark makes no mention of a John Edwards in this generation. Let me assure you, this John Edwards never existed. He is a confusion of at least two different historical men named John Edwards: 1. Dr. John Edwards (c.1685 - 1743) who owned land in Westmoreland, Spotsylvania and King George Counties in the early 18th century. He is believed to have been married to a Jane Arrington. His estate was probated by Anne Edwards and a possible relative of hers, Richard Tutt, on December 2, 1743 in King George County, Virginia....

It seems the primary reason even professional genealogists have gotten the Edwards family of Virginia so mixed up over the last century is a 24-page book published in Havre, France by an obscure genealogist named C. W. Chancellor, M.D.  This book is called Leaves from the Chancellor--Fitzgerald--Cooper--Edwards Tree and in 1895 it introduced to the world the hypothesis that William Edwards of Westmoreland (c.1687-c.1746) was the son of William Edwards (d.1722) and Ann Harrison of Surry County, an idea I've already spent considerable space debunking . But the fascinating thing about this obscure little book is that it seems to be the source for almost all of the early flawed research about the Edwards families of Virginia, in particular, the Westmoreland County clan. In addition to being quoted almost verbatim in the Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Vol. 17 No. 49 in 1919 by Henry Strother (who cited it as his "manuscript" by a "prominent member of...