Alexander Edwards

Abt 1617 - 1690  (~ 73 years)

• Name	Alexander Edwards
  Birth	Abt 1617  [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	4 Sep 1690	Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts   [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  Burial	Bridge Street Cemetery, Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts   [6]
  Person ID	I4712	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
  Last Modified	10 Feb 2024

  
  

  Family	Sarah Baldwin,   b. Abt Mar 1618   d. 3 Oct 1690, Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts (Age ~ 72 years)
  Marriage	28 Apr 1642	Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts   [1, 2, 5, 7, 8]
  Children	+ 1. Benjamin Edwards,   b. 24 Jun 1652, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts d. 31 Oct 1724, Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts (Age 72 years)
  Family ID	F2869	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	10 Feb 2024

  
  

• Notes

  He was in Springfield in 1640. "According to a letter written by William Pynchon in 1645, Alexander Edwards had lived 'in Wales' for about five years prior, i.e., about 1640, and was a 'hearer' of 'Mr. Wroth's ministry' (at Llanvaches, Monmouthshire)." [The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1636-1638, citation details below] "He was granted land in Springfield in 1643 and 1645, '& besides ye 3d allotments to Alexander Edwards....there is 7 akrs now granted to him at his request as a free gift: in all he is to have 18 akrs, he requested ye said 7 akrs in recompence of a houselott which he thought was due to him when he married the widdow Searles' (Springfield Town Records). He held a minor town office in 1648 and 1649. After his removal to Northampton he was granted land there until he finally owned a considerable acreage. In 1658 he contributed toward the settling of the Rev. Mr. Mather, as the minister. With three others he built a gristmill in 1659 but sold his share in 1661, and in that same year he signed the church covenant. He also owned part of a lead mine. He lent his financial aid to Harvard College in 1672-3. In 1690 a fatal fever prevailed in the River towns, and eleven of the original settlers were its victims and among them was Alexander Edwards." [The Scott Genealogy, citation details below.] Frederick C. Warner (citation details below) gives him as a son of "Rev. RICHARD EDWARDS of Wales, a minister of London, England", but cites no evidence. As alluded to above, along with "Cornet" Joseph Parsons, another TNH ancestor, he was one of the four co-owners of the first mill in Northampton, and he was also one of the organizers of the first church there.

  
  

• Sources

  [S7376] The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1636-1638 by Ian Watson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2024. [S692] The Scott Genealogy by Mary Lovering Holman. Boston: 1919. [S5174] Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, on ancestry.com. [S2203] New England Marriages Prior to 1700 by Clarence A. Torrey. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015., year only. [S221] The Ancestry of Samuel, Freda, and John Warner by Frederick C. Warner. 5 volumes. Boston: F. C. Warner, 1949. (Cover title: The Warner-Harrington Ancestry.). [S461] Findagrave.com page for Alexander Edwards. [S691] Vital Records of Springfield, Massachusetts to 1850 ed. Clifford L. Stott. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002. [S2203] New England Marriages Prior to 1700 by Clarence A. Torrey. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.