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Archiver > EDWARDS > 1998-08 > 0902068819


From: "Brian Bivona" <>
Subject: RE: [EDWARDS-L] Thomas Edwards - Isabelle Downing descendants
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 1998 09:40:19 -0500


Hi Janelle -

Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately I don't know the county John
was from. The info regarding his birth in NC came from the 1850 & 1860
census, so I don't know where in NC it was. Family history has it that John
was a friend of James Knox Polk who became president. If I remember
correctly, Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, NC, so that may be a small
clue.

You're right, that the Clarissa you have doesn't seem to match. My Clarissa
was Clarissa White (b 1/22/1774 in Burke County, NC). She married Thomas
Coleman (born 6/30/1770 in VA) who had moved to the Burke County area in the
1780's. They moved to Maury County, TN some time near 1810. Their daughter
Julia Ann Coleman married John Edwards in Maury County, TN June 4, 1817).

The father of my John probably died between 1790 and 1795. John was born in
1789 and his parents apparently had only one other child when his father was
killed. It sounds likely then that John and his sister were very young, as
his parents had not had more children by then. Therefore I speculate on the
1790-1795 dates.

You're right that there are tons of John Edwards in NC at that time.
However my John left NC as a child, so I don't expect there is much, if any,
record of him in NC. His father could have been named anything. John and
Julia seemed to name all of their children after relatives. They only had
three sons... Thomas Coleman Edwards, William White Coleman Edwards, and
Lilburn Ulysses Edwards. Thomas Coleman was Julia Coleman Edwards' father.
William White Coleman was Julia's brother, and William White was Julia's
grandfather. There are no Lilburns or Ulysses on the Coleman side, so I
suspect that these may be names of John's ancestors, and possibly his
father.

Do these ring any bells?

Brian Bivona

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Janelle [mailto:]
> Sent: Sunday, August 02, 1998 8:28 AM
> To: Brian Bivona
> Subject: Re: [EDWARDS-L] Thomas Edwards - Isabelle Downing descendants
>
>
> Brian, do you know the county in NC where your John Edwards
> was born? I
> have Edwards from Orange Co., NC. I have a Richard Edwards who married
> Clarissa Martin but Richard was born in 1782 so this Clarissa wouldn't
> fit with your Clarissa. Richard Edward's father was named
> Stokes and his
> grandfather was named John. Stokes Edwards b 1760 had a son
> named John.
> I don't know when he was born as I only have Richard's
> birthdate out of
> all of the kids. I believe there is another John farther back and I am
> trying to prove it. I think it goes like this.
> 1. John Edwards (from VA) but not proven
> 2. John Edwards d 1817 (lived in Orange Co., NC)
> 3. Stokes Edwards b 1760(lived in Orange Co., NC and later Morgan Co.,
> IL)
> 4. Richard Edwards b 1782 (lived in Orange Co., NC, Orange Co., IN,
> Morgan Co., IL and IA) d 1849
> My Richard had a brother named John.
>
> There were probably many John Edwards in NC at that time but you might
> want to make a note of mine just in case.
> Janelle
>
>
> Janelle
>
>
> Brian Bivona wrote:
> >
> > This possibly a stretch, but since so many of you seem to know about
> > Isabelle Downing, I thought I'd try.
> >
> > I am descended from Dr. John E. Edwards (b. 1/15/1789 NC -
> d 6/28/1864
> > Shelby County, TX). He married Julia Ann Coleman
> (11/19/1800-5/19/1862). I
> > have tons of info many details of John's life, but I have
> almost zero info
> > on John's parents. The only thing I know is that they
> moved to the Kentucky
> > frontier when John was young, and that his father (name unknown) was
> > ambushed and killed by Indians in the area. His widow
> (name unknown) then
> > moved to Lexington, Fayette County, KY to live with her
> brother, taking her
> > two small children (John and his sister, her name also unknown).
> >
> > John and Julia had 11 children, most of whom were clearly named for
> > relatives. One of the ones I can't pin down completely is
> their daughter,
> > Clarissa Isabelle Edwards. Clarissa is the name of her maternal
> > grandmother, but I don't know about the Isabelle part.
> Several of John's
> > children and grandchildren (who also had strong patterns of
> naming for
> > family members) also named children Isabelle or Isabella.
> Since Isabelle
> > would be an uncommon name in VA/NC in that era, and John
> and his children
> > used it so frequently I have speculated that Isabelle
> Downing Edwards might
> > have been one of John's ancestors. Does anyone have any
> information that
> > might fit the missing parents of this John E. Edwards?
> >
> > I have an tremendous amount of wonderful information on
> John's life and on
> > the lives of his descendants. He was born in TN, moved to
> KY while young.
> > Went to medical school in KY, and then moved to Sumner
> County, TN. By 1820
> > moved on to Maury County, TN and then moved to Shelby
> County, TX about 1835
> > where he lived the rest of his life. If anyone is has a
> fit here, I'd be
> > happy to share what I have.
> >
> > Brian Bivona
> > Waco, Texas
>
> --
> Janelle McEwen Osborn
> Visit McEwen Genealogy
> http://members.home.net/tarie2/index.htm
>

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