The Descendants of Meredith Edwards of Westmoreland County, Virginia
I finally wrote a book compiling the research I've done on this family since January 2019. You can find uploaded at archive.org. Click here to go directly to it:
The Descendants of Meredith Edwards of Westmoreland County, Virginia
I've compiled all the evidence, sources, citations and research from quite a few different sources, explained why I think the relationships are what they are. Every single thing I've ever found on this family is here, so its 83 pages long.
I think there is some historical imperative in getting this family right, since it did produce some fairly noteworthy early Americans, including Senator John Edwards (1748-1834), one of the first elected U.S. senators from Kentucky; his sons, Haden (1771-1849) and Benjamin (1780-1837) Edwards, whose Fredonian Rebellion (1826) sparked the Texas secession movement; Gen. John Edwards King (1757-1828), a military hero from Kentucky who served during the War of 1812; Ninian Edwards (1775-1833), governor of Illinois Territory and his son Ninian W. Edwards (1809-1889) a statesman and brother-in-law to Abraham Lincoln.
Also worth a note--this family produced Ignatius Edwards (1732-1757), the first man ever executed on order of George Washington, even as Ignatius's grandfather and great-grandfather were neighbors and acquaintances of George's father and grandfather (Augustine and Lawrence Washington) in Westmoreland County. A possible early cousin of this family, John Edwards Jr. of Westmoreland, was well-enough acquainted with George Eskridge (1665-1735) that Eskridge paid the fine levied on him by the county court for the crime of bootlegging in 1721. Students of George Washington remember Eskridge as the adopted father of Mary Ball Washington, and the man for whom the first president was named.
As you've probably read on this blog, there are a number of genealogical problems with this family, some of them resulting from the fabrications of the Edwards Heirs scammers in the 1920s, others from mere sloppiness of early researchers and a desire to prove their own descent from the wealthiest and most powerful families in colonial America. While the Edwardses were not as prominent in colonial Virginia as the Lees, Washingtons, Randolphs or Harrisons, they were nonetheless successful planters who were among the earliest generations to live out the American dream.
This is likely my final research statement on this family, but I always welcome questions and corrections. Feel free to comment here. Thank you for reading, and I hope this is of help to Edwards genealogists.
The Descendants of Meredith Edwards of Westmoreland County, Virginia
I've compiled all the evidence, sources, citations and research from quite a few different sources, explained why I think the relationships are what they are. Every single thing I've ever found on this family is here, so its 83 pages long.
I think there is some historical imperative in getting this family right, since it did produce some fairly noteworthy early Americans, including Senator John Edwards (1748-1834), one of the first elected U.S. senators from Kentucky; his sons, Haden (1771-1849) and Benjamin (1780-1837) Edwards, whose Fredonian Rebellion (1826) sparked the Texas secession movement; Gen. John Edwards King (1757-1828), a military hero from Kentucky who served during the War of 1812; Ninian Edwards (1775-1833), governor of Illinois Territory and his son Ninian W. Edwards (1809-1889) a statesman and brother-in-law to Abraham Lincoln.
Also worth a note--this family produced Ignatius Edwards (1732-1757), the first man ever executed on order of George Washington, even as Ignatius's grandfather and great-grandfather were neighbors and acquaintances of George's father and grandfather (Augustine and Lawrence Washington) in Westmoreland County. A possible early cousin of this family, John Edwards Jr. of Westmoreland, was well-enough acquainted with George Eskridge (1665-1735) that Eskridge paid the fine levied on him by the county court for the crime of bootlegging in 1721. Students of George Washington remember Eskridge as the adopted father of Mary Ball Washington, and the man for whom the first president was named.
As you've probably read on this blog, there are a number of genealogical problems with this family, some of them resulting from the fabrications of the Edwards Heirs scammers in the 1920s, others from mere sloppiness of early researchers and a desire to prove their own descent from the wealthiest and most powerful families in colonial America. While the Edwardses were not as prominent in colonial Virginia as the Lees, Washingtons, Randolphs or Harrisons, they were nonetheless successful planters who were among the earliest generations to live out the American dream.
This is likely my final research statement on this family, but I always welcome questions and corrections. Feel free to comment here. Thank you for reading, and I hope this is of help to Edwards genealogists.
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