William Edwards of Westmoreland Was Not From Surry County, Va.
Given that William Edwards of Westmoreland is the ancestor of several prominent American politicians, including John Edwards (1748-1833), the first elected senator from Kentucky, Haden Edwards (1771-1849), an early Texas revolutionary, and his son, Haden Harrison Edwards (1812-1865), a Texas legislator, there is some historical significance in getting this genealogy right.
A theory that posits that William Edwards of Westmoreland County was the son of William Edwards (c.1680-1722) and Ann Harrison of Surry County has been widely accepted for several decades. This theory evidently originated from the Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Vol. 17 No. 49 in 1919. Citing only a mysterious "manuscript" written by a "prominent family member" as the source, author Henry Strother claimed William Edwards, father of Haden Edwards, was the "fourth child of William Edwards and Ann (Harrison) Edwards," and that he had married "Miss Haden, a sister of William Haden, father of Mrs. Ambrose Jones." This theory was reiterated by Edwards descendants about a decade later in the book The Hayden Family (1929).
Strother's manuscript erroneously claims that Haden Edwards was born in 1723 in Northumberland County, though the register of St. Paul Parish, Stafford County, Virginia gives his birthdate as March 16, 1716, and identifies his parents as William and Mary Edwards of Washington Parish, Westmoreland County. George Harrison Sanford King noted this error in the Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Vol. 32, No. 101, October 1934, and concluded there was no evidence to support the theory.
Most later genealogies, apparently aware of the contradiction, abandoned the Northumberland connection and identified the William Edwards who married Ann Harrison as the William Edwards of Surry County, who married into the wealthy and prominent ancestors of presidents William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison.
This theory has been repeated in numerous subsequent books, including:
Ancestral Studies of Four Families: Roberts, Griffith, Cartwright and Simpson (1948)
Colonial Families of the Southern States of America (1958)
Genealogies of Kentucky Families: From the Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society (1981)
The Cantrell-Newman Genealogy (198?)
A McAdams Family History (1990).
This "Surry County" theory is contradicted by evidence from the records of James City County, just across the river from Surry. A deed on April 6, 1709 recorded the wife of this William Edwards as "Elizabeth Harrison Edwards" who appeared in court that day to renounce a dower. This identification was corroborated in 1906 by the William & Mary Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 2 which stated that William Edwards (d.1722) of Surry County married Elizabeth Harrison, daughter of Benjamin, who "according to the inscription on her tombstone, died at the age of 17." If Elizabeth Harrison Edwards died at age 17 around the year 1709, she would have been far too young to have given birth to William Edwards of Westmoreland County, who became a father no later than 1716.
As I have found no challenge to this hypothesis, I will posit an alternative below with evidence I found in the deed and order books of Westmoreland County, along with the neighboring counties of King George and Spotsylvania.
The will of Meredith Edwards names his sons as John, William and Thomas. It states in summary:
EDWARDS, MERIDA. Written June 17, 1712; probated August 27, 1712. One feather bed, furniture, sword, gun etc to son John and he to be exr; my wife Ann 5 cattle; son William 76 acres of land, 4 cattle and sheep, one feather bed and furniture; my granddaughter one heifer; godson John Maders one heifer; daughter Ellenor gown and petty coat; son Thomas 4 head of cattle and 76 acres of land. (Wills of Westmoreland County, Virginia 1654-1800 BY AUGUSTA B. FOTHERGILL: Pg 47)
There is a solid web of evidence in the records of Westmoreland, King George and Spotsylvania Counties that the sons of Meredith Edwards remained in contact in each of these places, and that William, the grandfather of Senator John Edwards, was in fact the son of Meredith Edwards.
1. William, John and Thomas Edwards appear in several court records together.
William repeatedly served as security for both Thomas and John Edwards in Westmoreland and King George County Court:
In a suit against Thomas Edwards by Rice Hopkins, William Edwards acts as security. (Westmoreland County Court Orders, 1705 - 1721 c, [xxvi] index, 405 fo., Sep. 26, 1717).
On Mar. 4, 1723, William Edwards made his first appearance in court records of King George County. He appears in several suits in the 1720s and served three times as security for John Edwards. One example:
"In the account of debt brought by Christopher Scandrett agt John Edwards for 640 lbs of tobacco, William Edwards came into court & entered himself special bail in the said suit & judgment is granted the plt agst the def for the said sum of tobacco which is ord'd to be paid with costs." (King Geo. County orders, Order Bk, 1, pg. 235, Feb. 4, 1724)
2. The William Edwards of King George County is the same William Edwards from Westmoreland County.
On May 4, 1733, William Edwards and Mary Edwards "of Westmoreland County" appeared in King George County court for Hugh Canaday:
"William Edwards of Westmoreland County being summoned an evidence by Hugh Canaday agt Robert Richards & having attended one day it is ord'd that he pay him for the same & for coming & going 5 miles with costs according to law." (King Geo. County Orders. p. 638, May 4, 1733)
"Mary Edwards of Westmoreland County being summoned an evidence by Hugh Canaday agt Robert Richards & having attended one day it is ord'd that he pay her for the same & for coming & going 5 miles with costs according to law." (King Geo. County Orders. p.638, May 4, 1733)
William and Mary Edwards of Washington Parish (Westmoreland) are named as the parents of Haden Edwards (1716-1803), born in St. Paul Parish, Stafford County, March 16, 1716. This establishes a firm connection between the families of Westmoreland, King George and the Haden Edwards who fathered the Kentucky Senator.
3. When John Edwards died in 1743, Thomas Edwards filed suit over his estate.
"Administration of the estate of John Edwards, gent. is granted unto Richard Tutt, Ann Edwards, the widow & relict of the sd John Edwards decd having relinquished her right of administration of the sd estate unto the sd Richard Tutt, he having entered into bond with John Fox & Abraham Kenyon his securities in the sum of 800 pounds for his faithful administering the sd estate." (King George County Orders, Bk. 2, pg. 385, Dec. 2, 1743)
"Thomas Edwards gent. plt agt Richd Tutt adminr &c of Jno Edwards decd def, In Debt. This day came the plt by his atty & the def comes & defends the force & injury when &c & says that he cannot gainsay the sd action of the plt nor but that the sd John Edwards in his lifetime was indebted in manner & form as the plt agt him hath complained & as to the damages of the plt by him in that behalf sustained the def say & confess that the plt sustained damages by occasion of the premises above his costs by him in this behalf expended to 27 pounds with legall interest thereon & no more & because the plt here do not gainsay but grants the sd alligation to be true he prays judgment & the sd damages above confessed together with the costs to him to be adjudged &c, therefore it is considered that the sd plt recover agt the def his damages afsd amounting to 27 pounds with legall interest thereon from the 25th day of March 1739 to the time of payment in form afsd confessed together with his costs in this behalf expended & the def being in mercy &c." (King George County Orders, Bk. 2, pg. 445, Dec. 2, 1743)
4. The John Edwards of King George and Spotsylvania is definitely the son of Meredith Edwards.
A settlement filed on April 5, 1745 by Tutt in King George County indicated John Edwards, gent., was "concerned with business for the estate in Spotsylvania County, King George County and Williamsburg." Thomas and John Edwards both appear in the deed books of Spotsylvania; on November 6, 1722, Thomas Edwards was named as owning land in St. George Parish, Spotsylvania County, Virginia adjoining lands of Larkin Chew (Virginia County Records: Spotsylvania County 1721-1800 Being Transcriptions From the Original Files... Edited by William Armstrong Crozier. pg. 89).
This John Edwards is firmly connected to Meredith Edwards by his own son, also named Meredith Edwards (c.1720-1749), who took over the administration of his estate. On March 5, 1747, Meredith Edwards was named in King George court as "administrator of the goods and chattels of John Edwards, deceased" in a suit by Meredith against George Fox. William Edwards also sued Fox over the John Edwards estate on February 5, 1747/8 in King George County.
In order to argue that William Edwards of Westmoreland was the son of William Edwards of Surry, not only would one have to ignore the fact that the claim has zero supporting evidence, one would have to assert that the web of connections between William, John and Thomas Edwards across three neighboring counties in Virginia, anchored to their father by a namesake grandson, is merely a series of wild coincidences. Hopefully this "Surry County" theory can be put to rest.
I have a copy of a manuscript that lists the "Edwards Heirs". It is chock full of errors. Probably where the original info came from.
ReplyDeleteI have information showing that William Edwards of Surry County who married the daughter of Benjamin Harrison, Elizabeth "Anne" Harrison, only had one child Benjamin Edwards before she died, at the age of 17. The rest of William Edwards (of Surry) children were born by Martha "Elizabeth" Lowe, William's second wife.
ReplyDeleteMartha Lowe's Uncle was Micajah Perry, owner of the largest Tobacco merchant company in Virginia and also eventually British MP and Lord Mayor of London.
William Edwards father was William Edwards who was a business partner with Benjamin Harrison both co-owning two sloops that operated on the James River bringing both supplies and taking tobacco to Jamestown harbor, both being prominent merchants and land owners in Surry County. William Edwards senior was also the General Clerk of Court for the Colony of Virginia.
In a publication from England called the lost papers of Virginia, the two sloops are listed as the "Jamestown" and the "Jamestown of Virginia".
William Edwards, son of Martha "Elizabeth" Lowe resided in Surry County and was a prominent citizen throughout his life, his brother Thomas also residing in Surry County, VA.
Perhaps this information will further clear up the incorrect information that was pieced together so many years ago.,