The Family Bible of Thomas Edwards of Greenville County, South Carolina

I found an absolute gold mine on eBay last week. A Mrs. Dan Hugh Williamson who evidently died in 2009 had done extensive work on the genealogy of Thomas Edwards and Mary Ann McClanahan of Greenville County, South Carolina some decades ago and compiled her research into a single, slightly musty volume titled THOMAS EDWARDS: Westmoreland Co., Virginia to Greenville Co., SC and after coming across it incidentally I managed to buy it.

Mrs. Williamson has done some stellar genealogical work, and has even included photocopies straight from the Thomas Edwards family bible.

I've transcribed all of the names and dates in the bible here:

Thomas Edwards b. Jan. 25, 1762 d. Aug. 7, 1832
Mary Ann McClanahan, his wife b. Aug. 16, 1763 d. Nov. 14, 1841

Thomas and Mary Ann his wife were married Aug. 27, 1782.

Their children:

1. William Edwards born Apr. 24, 1784 d. Feb. 10, 1804
2. Thomas Edwards Jr. b. May 10, 1786 d. July 4, 1843. "Was shot on the public road."
3. Peter Edwards b. Oct. 4, 1788
4. Jesse Edwards b. Jan. 14, 1791
5. Lamech Edwards b. Apr. 11, 1794
6. John Serjeant Edwards b. Sep. 5, 1796 d. May 5, 1859
7. James McClanahan Edwards b. Dec. 30, 1798
8. Francis Edwards b. Jan. 31, 1802
9. Edward Edwards b. July 2, 1805.

The bible also gives a death date for Thomas's sister: "Sister Frances Wickliff departed this life the 13th day of December 1822 in the 66th year of her age."

It also gives dates of birth for several in-laws and grandchildren:

Elizabeth W. Kendrick b. Oct. 31, 1805
Mildred M. Lewis b. Jan. 3, 1800
Mildred F. Edwards, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Edwards b. May 24, 1828
Alice Serjeant Edwards, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Edwards b. Dec. 21, 1829
James McClanahan Edwards son of Edward and Elizabeth Edwards b. Mar. 20, 1831
Jesse Thomas Edwards was born Feb. 12, 1833

It also names other deaths:

"Babe" was born April 28 and died April 29, 1848
James M. Edwards d. Sep. 8, 1855 age 24
Mildred F. Hook d. Mar. 24, 1858
Elizabeth, wife of Edward Edwards d. Jan. 4, 1869
T. J. Edwards d. Mar. 26, 1898, age 68.
Peter Isham Edwards d. Sep. 6, 1910, age 70.

It also gives a number of other births, but doesn't say who the parents were:

Martha Jane Edwards b. Feb. 2, 1835
Elizabeth Kendrick Edwards b. May 11, 1837
Peter Isham Edwards b. Jan. 28, 1840
Sarah Calistia Edwards b. Apr. 24, 1842
John Jacob Hook Edwards b. June 30, 1845
Mary Ann Edwards b. Mar. 7, 1851
Amarilous Thomas James McFarland b. Feb. 21, 1854
Peter McKendree Edwards b. Dec. 6, 1861
Mildred Alice Edwards b. Dec. 3, 1864
M. D. (elsewhere: Mary Donald) Edwards b. Feb. 22, 1873
Thomas F. W. Edwards Oct. 12, 1877.

.........

The book proves conclusively that Thomas Edwards of Greenville County was the son of Thomas Edwards of Westmoreland County, Virginia, who died in 1774. Mrs. Williamson transcribed a document from his estate inventory which names his children as Mary Sargeant and her husband Thomas Cowles, Thomas Edwards, William Edwards, Franky and her husband Isaac Wickliffe, and Alice and her husband James Cowles. Thomas and Franky Wickliffe both ended up in Greenville County, South Carolina, where Thomas is mentioned in Franky's will. The author also dug up some other random notes, such as a 1771 petition by Thomas Edwards Sr. to construct a mill in Westmoreland County. In his will, Thomas Edwards noted that he was from Copley (a.k.a. Cople) Parish. This is the easternmost parish in Westmoreland, bordering Richmond County, where his wife, Alice Sarjeant (1725-aft.1782), was from.

The will of Thomas Sr. also notes that all of his children were under 21 years of age in 1774. This blows up my old theory that the William Edwards named in the will was the same William Edwards who served in the French and Indian War in 1757. It does however strengthen the theory that he was the same William Edwards who married Franky Pope in 1790 (Westmoreland County marriage bonds).

It also leaves my original theory that Thomas of Westmoreland is the son of Meredith Edwards inconclusive, but still very likely in my view. Since we have no evidence of an earlier marriage or children before this marriage to Alice Sarjeant circa 1753, when the son of Meredith would have been at least fifty-seven years old (judging by his first court appearance in 1717), and Thomas Sr. being out there building mills as late as 1771 (when the son of Meredith should have been in his seventies), it suggests they could be two different people.

We can track Thomas, the son of Meredith, to King George County as late as 1744, when he filed a suit against his deceased brother's executor in court. Eleven years later, in 1755, Thomas Edwards and "Alice Edwards, late Alice Howell" appeared in King George County court, officially entering the historical record as husband and wife and for twenty years thereafter resided in Westmoreland County. The fact that Thomas of Westmoreland owned 28 slaves and a wealth of personal property and real estate as enumerated in his estate inventory suggests that he was certainly a "gentleman" as well. The fact that the couple only had five children between 1754 and 1764, despite another ten years of marriage suggests he may have been an old man when they wed.

In 1746 a "Thomas Edwards, Gentleman" appears in a list of landowners in Prince William County. The fact that this Thomas Edwards appears in road orders of Prince William County in 1764 and again in 1772, suggests he is probably not the same man in Westmoreland. A Thomas Edwards filed suit in Prince William County court in May 1783; if this is the same man who began appearing in the county in 1746, he is almost certainly not the son of Meredith Edwards.

As yet, nothing seems to really land the plane. If Thomas Edwards Sr. of Westmoreland isn't the son of Meredith, where did he come from? There are a couple of possibilities. Given his origin in Copley parish, he could have been a descendant of John Edwards, Gent. (c.1640-aft.1724), an early pioneer of Westmoreland. The problem with this theory is that there doesn't seem to be a record of any Edwards families remaining in Westmoreland between 1724 and 1755, aside from the Meredith Edwards family.

Given his wife was from Richmond County, Thomas of Westmoreland could have originated there as well. He could have been the son of William Edwards and Mary Peace who married there in 1725.

While some genealogists may be tempted to connect him to the Lancaster County Edwards family, this seems unlikely. The only Thomas Edwards of Lancaster County I am aware of who is the right generation is confirmed deceased by 1778 with an entirely separate estate inventory and a daughter called Agatha Edwards. 

For now, I will say the connection between Thomas, son of Meredith Edwards who appears in Westmoreland County records 1712-18, 1734 and 1741, Spotsylvania County in 1722-23 and King George County 1743-44 is still likely to be the same Thomas Edwards who first appeared in King George County records in 1755 and died in Copley Parish, Westmoreland in 1774.

This also conclusively disproves the theory that Thomas was a son of "Thomas Nathaniel Edwards," an unfortunate footnote in the history of Edwards genealogy, or that he was the son of John Edwards of Greenville County, who had a son named Thomas (coincidentally also born in 1762). D.A.R. patriot records were recently updated to reflect that reality.

Updated Jan. 10, 2024.