Early Edwards Genealogy From 1895 Shows Edwards Heirs Influence

I recently found scans of a book called Historic Sketches of the Edwards and Todd Families and Their Descendants 1523-1895. Originally printed in 1895 and updated several times afterward, the book was authored by Georgie Hortense Edwards, a descendant of Haden Edwards (1716-1803). 

The book was published the same year as C. W. Chancellor's Leaves from the Chancellor--Fitzgerald--Cooper--Edwards Tree and between them represent the earliest texts I've ever been able to find on the Edwards family of Westmoreland County, Virginia.

Georgie Edwards wrote that she had traced her Edwards ancestry back to Richard Edwards, who was born in 1523 and, she claims, "great grandfather of Haden." On page one she already makes reference to "Edwards Hall" (red flag), the immigrant brothers myth (red flag number two), and claims that "Benjamin, son of William Edwards, married Ann Harrison, daughter of William Henry Harrison's great grandfather." This is an interesting variation on C. W. Chancellor's claim that William Edwards married Ann Harrison (a person, who, as I have previously reported, likely does not exist). Benjamin and Ann, she claims erroneously, are the parents of Haden Edwards.

While her claims aren't entirely different from C. W. Chancellor's and it's possible one used the other as a source, the influence of the Edwards Estate scam is considerably clearer in Historic Sketches. The most interesting passage in the book appears on page six in the form of a letter penned by Mrs. Penelope E. Crouch on December 15, 1884. Crouch notes that she is a descendant of Hayden Edwards and still owned his wife's wedding dress. She also claims that despite her knowledge of her lineage, it ends with Hayden, her great grandfather and she erroneously states that he was an immigrant from England like his wife. "I still find it impossible to find out the name of the brother who came over to America with Hayden Edwards..."

We know of course that Haden Edwards was born in Virginia in 1716 to William Edwards of Washington Parish, Westmoreland County and baptized in St. Paul Church. Given that his wife Penelope Sanford actually was an immigrant from England, the confusion is understandable. But what she says next really makes this book valuable:

The Secretary of the Edwards Heirs' Association writes me that there was a Hayden Edwards in the family he was tracing, and I thought probably we had proved ourselves heirs, and that he had not been able to trace his family. I think the property is well worth any exertion to recover it, as it is valued at between two and three hundred millions.

This provides a rare glimpse into both the indirect sales techniques used by the scammers to persuade random people named Edwards to buy into the Association and where some of the confused genealogies came from that still persist across the internet. Way back in 1884 a scammer had contacted her and said "hey, I have been doing my genealogy and found your Edwards ancestor but have been unable to make a documented connection back to him so I can't get the fortune. Sad! Well maybe you should go get it yourself! Here's your genealogy."

Crouch also mentions she had been seeking the identities of the brothers of "Robert Edwards," which is likely a reference to the buccaneer/pirate/bridge builder/whatever who owned the property in Manhattan. I'll bet she heard about him from the Edwards Heirs' Association. They may have folded Haden into the "immigrant brothers myth" to get his descendants to pay into the scam.