James M. Edwards
James M. Edwards, Coroner of Fayette County, occupies a beautiful residence at No. 415 South Fayette Street, Washington C. H., where he has surrounded his family with all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. A representative pioneer of the county and a man whose piety and honor entitle him to more than passing mention, he is probably as well known as any of the early settlers, and is respected wherever known. His life has been characterized by ceaseless industry, both as surveyor, stockdealer, real-estate owner and public official.
Ohio is the native State of Mr. Edwards, and he was born at Bellbrook, Greene County, December 21, 1821. His father, William Edwards, was born in South Carolina, but came North on account of the curse of slavery. He located first at Cincinnati, where he married Miss Charlotte, a sister of S. J. Brown, a wealthy and noted citizen of that city. She was born in England, but came to America when quite young and grew to womanhood in Cincinnati. After their marriage, they removed to Lebanon and afterward to Greene County, later purchasing a farm in Fayette County, in 1832. Until his death, in 1845, the father resided on his farm, to the cultivation of which he devoted his attention. He was a man of great kindliness of heart and probity of life, and occupied a warm place in the confidence of his fellow-men.
Among the family of ten children born to William and Charlotte Edwards was James M., who was a lad of ten years when he accompanied his parents to Fayette County. He studied the usual text-books of the country and village schools, and later engaged as a teacher for eight years, meeting with success as an instructor of the young. With the earnings thus accumulated, he purchased a tract of land in Paint Township, near the village of Bloomingburgh, and handled stock quite extensively, although he never made his home on the place, but resided in Bloomingburgh. He has sold one estate, but still retains in his possession a well-cultivated and highly-improved place of one hundred and forty acres, the rental of which proves remunerative. In 1884, he removed to Washington C. H., where he bought a neat and attractive residence and expects to spend his remaining years in that home.
With the public life of the county, Mr. Edwards has probably been as closely identified as any citizen thereof, and is the stalwart adherent of all measures that tend to the general welfare of the people. For eighteen years, he served as Justice of the Peace in Paint Township. He has been Infirmary Director for three years; is serving his third term as County Coroner; is now, and for the past three years has been, Health Officer, and was Assistant Revenue Assessor for three years. During the Civil War, he was one of the Ohio State Messengers to the army, making one trip to New Orleans and two to Richmond. He was mustered into the United States service as Second :ieutenant, and resigned after recruiting a company. He went on the Morgan raid with his horse and buggy, and was never idle in the defense of the Union. His interest in educational matters has been unflagging and deep, and for many years he worked effectively as a member of the School Board at Bloomingburgh and also as School Examiner for the county. His mathematical ability rendered his work for forty years as a surveyor peculiarly successful and accurate.
The first marriage of Mr. Edwards united him with Miss Sarah Stewart, who at her death left a daughter, Mary, now a resident of Washington C. H. with her father. March 25, 1852, Mr. Edwards and Miss Jane Amerman were united in marriage. She was born in Goshen, Orange County, N. Y., and came to Frankfort, Ross County, Ohio, with her parents at an early day. Mrs. Edwards died April 9, 1892, leaving two surviving children: Erskine S., who is engaged in the mercantile business at Washington C. H.; and Frank E., who is an Episcopalian clergyman of New York City.
For forty-five years or more, Mr. Edwards has been a member of the Presbyterian Church, in which he is an Elder. As a Sunday-school worker, he is especially successful and popular. For thiity-six years, he taught the same class in the Bloomingburgh Sunday-school, and in Washington C. H. he now has two classes of sixty members, ranging in age from eighteen to seventy years. He is also interested in mission work and attends a mission Sunday-school every Sunday afternoon. The only two organizations with which he has ever been identified are the Presbyterian Church and the Republican party, and both in religion and politics he has labored effectively for the advancement of others and the common good of all mankind.
From PORTRAIT & BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF FAYETTE, PICKAWAY AND MADISON COUNTIES, OHIO - Chapman Bros. [Chicago, 1892]