William Edwards

Bef 1618 - Aft 1680  (> 63 years)

• Name	William Edwards  [1, 2]
  Birth	Bef 1 Nov 1618  [3, 4, 5]
  Baptism	1 Nov 1618	St. Botolph's, Aldgate, London, England   [3, 4]
  Gender	Male
  Death	Aft 1680	Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut   [3, 4, 6]
  Person ID	I14876	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
  Last Modified	14 Nov 2020

  
  

  Father	Rev. Richard Edwards,   b. of St. Botolph's, Aldgate, London, England d. 31 Aug 1625, Ratcliffe in Stepney, Middlesex, England
  Mother	Anne   d. 20 Feb 1680, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut
  Marriage	Bef 1614  [4]
  Family ID	F9381	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Agnes Harris,   b. Bef 6 Apr 1604   d. Aft 1680, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut (Age > 77 years)
  Marriage	11 Dec 1645	Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut   [4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
  Children	1. Richard Edwards,   b. May 1647, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut d. 20 Apr 1718, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut (Age ~ 70 years)
  Family ID	F9376	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	11 Mar 2020

  
  

• Notes

  He was a cooper. He was one of the original settlers of Hartford, but he was not a proprietor, as he owned no land. His name is on the Founders Monument in downtown Hartford. From Donald Lines Jacobus and Edgar Francis Waterman, Hale, House and Related Families (citation details below): William had been taught to write, perhaps by his stepfather, and often witnessed deeds. He appears frequently in court actions as plaintiff or defendant, and seems to have plied the cooper's trade which Cole had taught him. He was one of the Hartford men to be troopers under Major John Mason, 11 Mar. 1657/8, and was made a freeman, 20 May 1658. On 14 May 1663, Edwards charged Mr. Daniel Clark, Secretary of the Colony, with "breach of his oath, unfaithfulness in ye great trust committed to him by the freemen of this Corporation, to the dishonour of God, infringment of ye royall perogatiue of our Soueraign Lord the King, contempt of ye authority established in this Corporation, & abuse of the members of ye same." This was a serious charge against one of the most prominent men in the Colony, and was brought by a man who had never held public office. Nevertheless, "The Court haueing considered the complaint of Wm. Edwards against Mr. Clark, and hauing seriously considered the case, do find him so far falty as to put him out of the Secretary's place untill the next Election Court." At the next court, John Allyn was elected Secretary. During King Philip's War, the Council in March 1675/6 granted "Mr. Tho: Terry and Mr. Wm. Edwards" liberty to transport 300 bushels of grain to supply the people of Rhode Island and Plymouth. In 1654 "Will Edwards & Will Williams Coopr" were presented for sale of "Cascke unmarked Contrary to Law." He was one of four men charged 5 Mar. 1656/7 "for smoaking in the street contra to law." On 14 June 1661, "Wm Edwards is fined for drunkenes at Mr Wels his funerall 10s." It was customary to serve wine at funerals. We thus get a picture of William Edwards as a man of affairs, diligent in business, not afraid to speak his mind, and not averse to tobacco and wine, and there is no doubt that as a rule he was a man of moderation. It is a bit odd that with his better than average education he never sought public office; and his putting his realty into his wife's name suggests a cautious streak in his disposition. It is to be remarked also that his mother gave to him and his wife life use only of her property, after which it was to go to his son Richard.

  
  

• Sources

  [S1589] The Wetmore Family of America and Its Collateral Branches by James Carnahan Wetmore. Albany, New York: Munsell & Rowland, 1861. [S1559] Autobiography of William Seymour Tyler, With a Genealogy of the Ancestors of Prof. and Mrs. William S. Tyler, prepared by Cornelius B. Tyler. 1912. [S2044] George E. McCracken, "Who Was Aaron Burr?" The American Genealogist 40:65, April 1964. [S387] Hale, House and Related Families, Mainly of the Connecticut River Valley by Donald Lines Jacobus and Edgar Francis Waterman. Hartford, Connecticut: Connecticut Historical Society, 1952. [S1592] Douglas Richardson, "The English Origin of Agnes Harris, of Hartford, Conn., Wife of William1 Spencer and William1 Edwards." The American Genealogist 63:33, Jan 1988., year only. [S142] Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families by Douglas Richardson. Salt Lake City, 2013. [S388] FamousKin.com., date only. [S1589] The Wetmore Family of America and Its Collateral Branches by James Carnahan Wetmore. Albany, New York: Munsell & Rowland, 1861., year only. [S1592] Douglas Richardson, "The English Origin of Agnes Harris, of Hartford, Conn., Wife of William1 Spencer and William1 Edwards." The American Genealogist 63:33, Jan 1988. [S3828] Walter Kendall Watkins, "English Ancestry of Rev. Jonathan Edwards." The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 58:202, Apr 1904., says "11 Dec., 1647".