Biography of B.O. Edwards-Richland Parish
Submitted by Mike Miller



**********************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
**********************************************
 
B. O. Edwards, Richland Parish, Louisiana

B. 0. Edwards is a well-known and popular general merchant of 
Rayville,La., and his establishment is noted for the superiority 
of the goods and for the honorable methods on which he conducts his affair. 
Mr. Edwards was born at Columbus, Miss., on the 28d of 
April, 1847, the eldest of five children born to Joe W. and Elizabeth 
D. (Riley) Edwards, the former of whom was born in Maryland and the latter
in South Carolina.  Joe W. Edwards grew to manhood in his native state, and 
there received his education, but upon leaving the shelter of the parental 
roof to seek a home for himself, he became a resident of Columbus, Miss.,where 
he engaged in the harness and saddlery business.  He was married at this place 
in 1845.  During the war he did quite an extensive business in his line, after 
which he moved to Newton county, Miss., and was engaged in farming there until 
the year 1871, when he took up his residence in Richland parish, La., where he 
resumed the business of planting.  He was a plain practical tiller of the soil 
and was never an aspirant for officialposition.  He died at his home in Richland 
parish in 1880, his widow still surviving him in her sixty-fourth year.  B. 0.
Edwards is their only living child.  He grew to manhood in Mississippi,being 
twenty-three years of age when his parents moved to Louisiana, and also in the 
common schools of the former state he received the principal part of his knowledge 
of the "world of books."  Upon first starting out in life for himself it was as a 
clerk in a store in Rayville, La., after which he followed planting for a number of 
years in Richland parish, being the owner of 570 acres of land with 200 under
cultivation.  In 1890 he engaged in the mercantile business in Rayville, in partnership 
with J. D. Myers, the style of the firm being Myers £ Edwards.They carry a stock of 
general merchandise worth about $7,000 and do an annual business of $18,000.  Mr. 
Edwards has been a member of the police jury for nearly ten years and at present is a
 member of the board.  He is a thorough business man and a useful member of society,
highly esteemed by his acquaintances and friends.  In 1878 he was married to Miss Jennie 
Moore, a daughter of Dr. Madison Moore of Richland parish.  His wife is an intelligent 
and cultured lady and is aworthy member of the Baptist church.

Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, (vol. 1), pp. 398-399.
Published by the
Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892.