Edwards

Research Results 7/19/2006.

Just some comments. 7/6/2006

The John Edwards who resided in Oglethorpe and Wilkes Counties was the Revolutionary War Soldier who was born 8/12/1752 in Culpepper Co., Va, and died 1834, buried Martin Cemetery, Perry Co., Alabama. His LWT signed 11/29/1828 in Perry Co. named wife, Susanah and sons: William Reuben, John and James; daughters, Sally Bennett, Betsy Philips, Susanah Johnson and Tabitha Aycock. He enlisted in Franklin Co., N. C. where are a number of records on Edwards families (none include Pryor, Morris, etc.)

The John Edwards (Rev War Soldier), VA Line, who was born 1760 in Brunswick Co., VA, died at the home of his son, Sterling Edwards, in Meriwether Co., Ga. You said that your John Edwards died 1839 in Troup Co. (I found no evidence this this, however, Meriwether Co. is the adjoining county). This Edwards had daughter, Pamela, wife of John Rainey of Jasper Co., Ga. and Mary, wife of George Crowder of Henry Co., GA. He died 3/22/1833. Pryor Thornton died in Troup Co. Apparently, all of the children were not named in the pension application of 1832 in Meriwether Co. Sterling Edwards was found on 1830 Columbia Co., GA Census with a male old enough to have been born 1760. The birthdate matches the Pryor Edwards bible record, but the death date is a little different.

I looked at the 1830 Henry Co. Census for James H. Edwards. As you said, it does not seem to be a match. Your James H. Edwards was found in the Butts Co. deed records in 1827. I would assume that he should be found on the 1830 Butts Co. Census, although it is not in the printed index. Jeannette Holland Austin www.georgiapioneers.com

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I am not sure that John Edwards is the father of James Edwards who married Martha Patsey Hamilton, and this James is our last proven ancestor. Many family trees and books indicate that John Edwards and Ellen Pryor were the parents of James and his siblings, but my sister found the Bible records of Pryor Edwards in the GA Archives and it lists John and Jane Edwards as his parents. The Bible records list John's birthdate as August 1, 1760 and his death in Sept. of 1839. Jane (she may have been Ellen Jane or Jane Ellen, but Jane was what she was called, apparently) is listed as dying in 1822. John Edwards and family were on the 1820 Jasper County, GA census, but not on the 1830 census. James married in 1813 in Jasper County, GA and a James was on the 1820 Jasper County, GA census also. However, there is not a James anywhere in GA until 1840 that matches James and Patsey and the children they were supposed to have had, so this is of concern to me.    

Some information that I have found indicates that James owned a gin and that he lived across the river from the Lindseys that lived in Butts County, and Sarah Edwards, his daughter married Sherrod Lindsey, but I will need to go to Jasper County and study their records to find out if this information is true since Jasper County has very few records on line. I found John living with Pryor/Pior Edwards in Troup County, GA on the 1830 census record, and he died in 1839. I have found three different research sources linking John Edwards who married Jean Morris in 1783 to the Edwards from Henry County, VA; that John is the son of Thomas Edwards who died in 1791 in VA and several of his children came to Oglethorpe County, GA by 1790. However, there was a John Edwards in that area by 1785, and James was born in GA in 1786. Since the second son is named Morris, this John would fit. However, I have nothing linking James to John except family trees and books, which all have errors and cannot be completely trusted. I believe that the John Edwards I am researching is the son of Thomas Edwards from VA and he first married Jean Morris in VA in 1783. I believe that he then came to Wilkes County, GA and then Oglethorpe County (may have been same area but counties changed when Oglethorpe County was created). Around 1800 he sold his land there and went to Pendleton County, SC for some time before moving back to GA in Jasper County, later to Butts County, and died in Troup County, GA. Since Pryor was born in 1798 (according to his Bible records), Jean may have died and John then married Jane Pryor (I have found many family trees for her family) and she died in 1822 in either Jasper County or Butts County, GA. John had possibly 8 children—6 boys and 2 girls--the Pendleton County 1800 census lists 5 boys and 2 girls and I believe he had another son, Ledford, born in 1801 in SC. His children (as far as I can determine) were as follows:

James, B. 1786 in GA
Female, B. about 1787
Mary, B. about 1788
Morris, B. about 1789 in GA
John, B. about 1796 in GA
Pryor, B. about 1798 in GA
Ledford, B. 1801 in SC

  James H. Edwards married Martha Patsey Hamilton on 12/2/1813 in Jasper Co. GA. They had 13 children, as follows:

John, B. 1815 in Jasper Co. GA
Ruben Hamilton, B. 1818 in Jasper Co
Sarah, B. 1/23/1823 in Jasper Co. GA
James C., B. 1825 in Jasper Co. GA
Mary M., B. 1828 in Jasper Co. GA
Nancy C., B. 1831 in Jasper Co. GA
Catherine, B. 1832 in Jasper Co. GA
Martha Jane, B. 1834
Solomon Henry, B. 1835 in Jasper Co
Joel Jefferson, B. 1836 in Jasper Co.
Tabitha, B. about. 1837
William M., B. about 1838
J. Simeon, B. 1839 in Jasper Co. GA

James C. Edwards married Frances Grubbs about 1848 in Jasper Co. GA. They had 8 children as follows:

John, B. 1848 in Jasper Co. GA
William Walter, B. 3/9/1849 in Jasper Co. GA
James, B. 1851 in Jasper Co. GA
Martha, B. about 1854 in Jasper Co. GA
Simeon B., B. 10/1856 in Jasper Co. GA
Luella, B. about 1858 in Jasper Co. GA
Emily Catherine, B. 1/5/1861 in Jasper Co. GA
Andrew Jackson & Dora (twins), B. 1866 in Jasper Co. GA

William Walter Edwards married Josephine Elizabeth Odom on 9/25/1873 in Terrell Co. GA. They had 2 sons before Elizabeth died. William next married Elizabeth Matt Chambliss on 1/10/1878 in Terrell Co., GA and they had 5 children. The 7 children are as follows:

Walter Land, B. 11/1/1875 in Randolph Co. GA
Bunyard Lama, B. about 1876 in Terrell Co. GA
James, B. about 1879 in Terrell Co. GA
William E., B. 6/1880 in Colquitt Co. GA
Otis Ashmore, 9/24/1881 in Colquitt Co. GA
Ella Mae, B. 11/1883 in Colquitt Co. GA
Bessie G., B. 9/1884 in Colquitt Co. GA
Mattie Lou, B. 8/1888 in Colquitt Co. GA

Otis Ashmore Edwards married Mary Ann “Pollie” Sellers in Colquitt Co. GA around 1901. They had 11 children as follows:

James Clifford, B. 1905; D. 1966 in GA.
Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” Hughes, B. 1906; D. 1985 in GA
Addibell Edwards Bryant, B. 1908; D. 12/6/1993 in GA
James William “Willie”, B. 1909; D. 1984 in Vero Beach, FL
Elbert Raiford, B. 6/24/1911; D. 7/30/1973 in GA
Mamie Katherine—died in infancy
Ocie Lucille “Lucy” Edwards Perkins, B. 1916; D. 1993 in GA
Roy Lee, B. 1917; D. 1962 in Plant City, FL
Ola Edwards Brumblow, B. 1918; D. 1984 in GA
Mabel Edwards Suggs, B. 1920; D. 2002 in GA
Clarence B. 1922; D. 2004 in Plant City, FL

  As I stated before, I don't know for sure that James Edwards was the son of John Edwards; he is being claimed by others on family trees (those researching Soloman and Reuben), but most list him as the son of John Edwards and Ellen Pryor, but I can find no trace of any Ellen Pryor. I believe her name to be Jane Ellen Pryor. However, I also believe that she was the second wife of John Edwards, since he had a son named Morris and a John Edwards married Jean Morris in Henry County, VA in 1783. I have found evidence of a bounty land grant being given to a John Edwards in Wilkes County, GA in 1785/86. There are two John Edwards on the tax records for Oglethorpe in 1790 in different districts, so I know there were two different ones there (part of Wilkes County went to Oglethorpe County when it was formed). According to Susan Jurban, John Edwards purchased land in Wilkes County in 1789 and sold it about 1800 and moved to Pendleton County, SC. A John Edwards who fits the age of the one I am researching and has the correct number of sons is on the Pendleton County, SC 1800 census. I know that he owned land in the Cork community of Butts County, GA in the late 1820s and he was a founding member of the Sandy Creek Primitive Baptist Church. I have ordered these church records, but have seen some pages of these records transcribed that list him there. I have also found (from your GA wills CD) Pryor and Morris linked in Troup County, GA in 1841. They are also linked to George Henry, whose family is also listed in Pryor Edwards Bible records--none of Pryor's siblings are listed there, but George Henry, Sr. and his wife and children are, which include the George Henry who is living with Morris Edwards while he is dying of consumption, according to the oral will. I don't have a clue how the Henrys and Edwards are related. I suppose my major problem (besides trying to sort out the different John Edwards in GA who are about the same age) is to link James Edwards who married Martha Patsey Hamilton to John Edwards, or determine who his father was.  

I have written all of this information because I know that you do research and thought that you may be able to use what I have found at some point.  

Marilyn Edwards Wetherington
jeannette@georgiapioneers.com wrote:
Dear Marilyn.  
I have not had any luck connecting Phillip Ragan to Brice Ragan, so I thought I would give your Edwards name a try.  

Please provide me with the name of your last proved ancestor and where he resided.  

Jeannette Austin
www.georgiapioneers.com  

sjurban21@comcast.net Susan Jurban
Hi Marilyn,

I don't have much information on John Edwards who m. Jean Morris, but think you are probably correct that he was the same John who was in Jasper Co GA. The following is from the book: "Gone to Georgia", by William C. Stewart: "One Oglethorpe County Edwards family is believed to have descended from a group who moved from Tidewater Virginia to Brunswick County, Va., as early as 1732 and were subsequently found in Lunenburg, Halifax, Pittsylvania and Henry Counties, Va. In the first Pittsylvania County tax list, 1767, James and Thomas and the latter's son William were listed. William and Richard Edwards were neighbors of John Hardiman in Bedford County, Va. In 1758, Thomas Edwards was a resident of Henry County, Va., in 1778 (Will Book 1, p. 9) and he, Isham, James and Edmound Edwards all were granted land there in 1780. James and Thomas lived on Smith's River and were granted additional land in 1786 and 1789. Abel, Arthur, James, John, Thomas and William were on the 1782 Henry County tax list. A number of the family lived in Franklin County, subsequently (1786) formed from Henry and Bedford Counties.
In Henry County, Va., William Edwards married Aug. 2, 1791, Elizabeth Brittain, consent of her father, George Brittain, who had lived in the vicinity of Leatherwood Creek as early as 1768. A younger George Brittain of this family moved to Oglethorpe County, where his will (Dec. 17, 1818/Nov. 15, 1825, Book B, pg. 269) named his wife Judith, with his son Henry as executor. Henry Brittain married Nancy Lunsford in Oglethorpe Nov. 28, 1811. Henry Lunsford married there Dec. 6, 1818, Elizabeth Edwards (see Langford for this family). Henry Lansford's will (March 4, 1818/Jan.11, 1819, Book B, 167) mentioned his wife Elizabeth and his legatees included children Nancy Brittain and Elizabeth Edwards. Henry Brittain's will (Nov. 1, 1865/April 27, 1867, Book E, p. 4) named his son Jabez m. Brittain, and Benjamin F. Hardeman, as executors. The will of William Lumpkin (1847, Book D, p. 209) who married Susannah Edwards in Oglethorpe June 6, 1815, mentioned his son-in-law, Thomas J. Brittain, who married Permelia Lumpkin Oct. 25, 1838; the Lumpkins also were from Southside Virignia."

Before being in Oglethorpe County, these Edwards were in Wilkes County, GA. John Edwards purchased 200 acres on Long Creek in western Wilkes County, GA from Andrew McNabb on 17 February 1789. The 1790 Wilkes County tax returns for that area (Captain Lane's District) listed John as the owner of 200 acres. Listed below John were his brothers, Thomas and Nathan, neither of who were landowners, apparently residing on John's property. John sold his property on Long Creek on 19 March 1800 to James Norton and the deed indicated John was a resident of Pendleton County, SC. The 1800 Pendleton County, SC Census lists: John Edwards 41010-02010. He was not listed in the 1810 Census in Pendleton County, SC, so he could have moved back to Jasper County, GA.

The James Edwards who d. in Robertson Co VA in 1828, was the s/o Thomas & Lucy Edwards of Henry County, VA and brother to John who m. Jean Morris. James moved to Wilkes County, GA ca. 1792, after his mother Lucy died. He was residing on his brother, Edmund's property there when he and Edmund executed the deed selling their father's land holdings in Henry County, VA to John Marrs in February, 1793. James later settled in nearby Jackson County, GA. He was not listed in Jackson County tax returns after 1803, so apparently departed there for Robertson County, TN in 1804. James Edwards died testate in Robertson County, TN, in 1829 (WB 7, pg. 41), leaving all his estate to his wife, Elizabeth. No heirs mentions in his will, indicating James & Elizabeth probably had no children. I'm not sure who the William Edwards would have been that came on foot to TN ca. 1822, but he was not the ancestor of James; however he may have been a relative.

Hannah Edwards who m. Thomas Scoggins was the d/o Thomas & Lucy Edwards of Henry County, VA. This according to Thomas' will: "Pittsylvania County, VA Wills, 1767 to 1820" - page 202-203, 17 November 1790, proved 18 April 1791 LWT Thomas Edwards sick and weak in body but of sound memory.

To James Edwards the land whereon he now lives, 150 acres more or less.
To my son Edmund Edwards five shillings.
To Thomas Edwards fifty pounds in property.
To Nathan Edwards fifty pounds in property.
To William Edwards fifty pounds in property, and a bay mare.
To my daughter Martha Sams, a negro girl Jane now in her possession.
To my daughter Elizabeth Lansford five shillings.
To my daughter Hannah Scroggins a negro girl Easter in her possession. I lend the residue of my estate to my beloved wife Lucy Edwards during her natural life or widowhood. At her death all the negros with a debt due me from John Marr, (being the land I sold him on Smith River where he now lives), to be equally divided between my six sons and Elizabeth Lansford my daughter the balance of my estate to be divided between my other three daughters, above named. Appoint my wife and son James Edwards and Henry Lansford, executors. signed: Thomas Edwards Witnesses: Clement Nance, Mary (X) Nance, Ann (X) Durham, Isham Lansford, Thomas Harris Silvanus Stokes and Joel Clark security for executors.

(Marilyn’s note: on another copy of the same will is listed: To my son John Edwards five shillings—don’t know if she left it off this copy by accident or what. She has a genealogy website listing the Edwards from VA.)

Yes, I would be interested in the information that you have for John & Jean Morris Edwards of Jasper County, GA. One thing that I found in the Jasper County, GA marriage records was a marriage for Seaborn Edwards & Zilphia Sansom in 1825. Thomas & Lucy Edwards' son, William had a son named Seaborn, and I would think this might be his son. Look forward to hearing from you again.

Susan M. Jurban