Biographical Sketch of William EDWARDS (1881); Chester County, PA

Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Candace Roth 
<clroth1229@earthlink.net>.

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Pg. 527
 
  "EDWARDS, William, an early settler in Middletown, is thought to have come 
from Wales about the year 1682.  There is no mention of a wife coming with him, 
but a son, John, accompanied him.  In 1688, William married Jane Atkinson, a 
native of Yorkshire, he being then about sixty and she about thirty years of 
age.  He died in 1717, and his widow about 1736.  It is supposed there were 
other children than John by the first wife, while by the second there was a 
daughter, Sarah, who married Joseph Pratt in 1717.
  John Edwards, born, according to tradition, about 1671, inherited his father's 
land in Middletown.  He married, early in 1700, Mary Ingram, of Burlington, 
N.J., and had children as follows:  1. John, b. 1701, m. in 1743, and had a son, 
William, who settled in West Marlborough, but later in life moved up the 
Susquehanna River.  2. Mary, b. 1703; m. Aaron Baker.  3. Elizabeth, b. about 
1705; m. John Lawrence, of Springfield.  4. Nathan, b. 1708; married and settled 
in Middletown, where he kept the Black Horse tavern.  His children were Susanna, 
Mary, Sarah, Hannah, John, and Elizabeth.  5. Hannah, b.about 1710; m. Job 
Harvey, Jr., in 1739.  6. Moses, b. 2,2,1721; removed to West Marlborough 1741, 
and in 1743 m. Esther Plummer, daughter of Robert and Elinor. 7, Phebe, b. 1724; 
m. in 1743 Benjamin Worrall.  8. Joseph, b. Dec. 10, 1717; m. Elizabeth, 
daughter of Jacob Malin, 1745, and in 1761, Hannah, widow of John Regester.  
Joseph Edwards, of Middletown, who died in 1858 was a grandson of this second 
marriage.  He collected considerable of the family history, and began the 
preparation of the history of Delaware County, the completion of which was 
prevented by his death.  9. Amos, b. 1729; m. in 1761, Rachel, and had 
children,--Thomas, John, and Mary.  The last, b. May 22, 1762, d. Nov. 27, 1816, 
m. Thomas Beatty, and their sons, John, Willilam, and Robert, became 
distinguished cutlers.
  John Edwards, son of Nathan, m. Hannah Baker, widow, formerly Pennock, and had 
children,--Pennock, b. 6,26,1792; Nathan, b. 2,6,1784; John, b. 7,15,1786; 
Sarah, b. 2,27,1788, m. Joseph Leonard.  John Edwards, Jr., m. Hannah Gibbons, 
daughter of Dr. James Gibbons.  He was proprietor of iron-works at Glen Mills, 
was for several years a member of Congress from the district composed of 
Delaware, Chester, and Lancaster Counties, and was buried at Middletown Meeting 
10,5,1825.
  The children of Moses and Esther Edwards were Sarah, b. 12,17,1743; Esther, b. 
5,11,1745; Joshua, b. 9,4,1746; Caleb, b. 9,7,1748; Hannah, b. 7,13,1750; Moses, 
b. 3,10,1752; Mary, b. 5,15,1755; John, b. 12,12,1757; Thomas, b. 3,20,1760; 
Phebe, b. 6,15,1763; Nathan, b. 2,24,1766."