EDWARDS.--The subject of this notice, Rev. E. W. Edwards, was born in Weakley county, Tenn., September 5, 1830. He was left when quite young solely to the training of a pious mother. Very early in life he felt the need of a Saviour. He professed religion in his fourteenth year, and joined what is now known as the Greenfield congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. About 1851, he became a candidate for the ministry under the care of the Hopewell Presbytery. He was ordained by the Searcy Presbytery in Arkansas; I do not know the date. He was married to Mary E. Byram, April 13, 1858. He had nine children, six of whom, with their mother, still survive. Brother Edwards was a man of moderate education. He spent some time in Bethel College at McLemoresville, Tenn. While he was not an eloquent, or great preacher, yet he was a successful pastor. He moved from Arkansas to Tennessee about 1863, and spent the remainder of his life in Weakley, county, Tenn., and served many congregations in the bounds of his presbytery. He was for the last half of his life severely afflicted, which was a great hinderance [sic] to his usefulness as a preacher. I never knew a man of more unyielding courage. Being poorly paid for his preaching, he supported his family well by his own efforts, laboring when most men would have given up. He was highly esteemed by the people of his county as is shown by the fact that he was twice elected to public office by large majorities. When able he loved to preach, and few men, I think, could give better divisions of a text. But his work is done, his spirit is at rest. He died in peace at Memphis, Tenn., where he had gone for medical aid, January 16, 1893, aged sixty-two years, four months and eleven days.
ALLEN FOUST

[Source: The Cumberland Presbyterian, April 6, 1893, page 607]

Edward William Edwards
Cumberland Presbyterian Minister
born: 5 September 1830 - Weakley County, Tennessee
died: 16 January 1893 - Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee
buried: 18 January 1893 - Hopewell Cemetery - Gleason, Weakley County, Tennessee
married: 13 April 1858 - Arkansas
wife: Mary ("Mollie") A. E. Byram
born: 23 March 1841 - Alabama
died: 1 January 1927 - Greenfield, Weakley County, Tennessee
buried: 3 Janaury 1927 - Hopewell Cemetery - Gleason, Weakley County, Tennessee

Children of Edward William Edwards and Mary E. Byram:

1. John Levi Edwards
born: 4 February 1859
died: 21 January 1877 - Weakley County, Tennessee

2. Nancy Catherine Edwards
born: 16 July 1861 - Prairie County, Arkansas
died: 10 January 1864 - Prairie County, Arkansas

3. Mary Etta Edwards
born: 1 March 1863
died: 24 September 1919 - Gleason, Weakley County, Tennessee
married: 16 December 1884 - Gleason, Weakley County, Tennessee
husband: Charley N. Freeman

4. Elizabeth "Bettie" Blain Edwards
born: 18 March 1864
married: 18 March 1885 - Weakley County, Tennessee
husband: Al Boone

5. Elmina Ann Edwards
born: 3 March 1867
died: 2 February 1946
married: September 1892
husband: Lawrence Neeley

6. Alexander Caldwell Edwards
born: 22 June 1869
died: 18 October 1950 - Gleason, Weakley County, Tennessee

7. William James Edwards
born: 12 October 1875 - Weakley County, Tennessee
died: 21 April 1876 - Weakley County, Tennessee

8. Joseph Edward Edwards
born: 20 November 1878 - Greenfield, Weakley County, Tennessee
died: 26 March 1964 - Nashville, Tennessee
buried: Calvary Cemetery - Nashville, Tennessee
wife: Nora Margaret Britton
born: 8 October 1892 - Nashville, Tennessee
died: 4 January 1972 - Nashville, Tennessee

Children of Joseph Edward Edwards and Nora Margaret Britton:

5.1. Joseph Edwin Edwards
born: 15 August 1916 - Nashville, Tennessee
died: 10 Janaury 2000 - Nashville, Tennessee
married: 15 May 1954 - Sanford, Maine
wife: Lucille Yvette LeBrun
born: 18 June 1923 - Sanford, Maine

5.2. Mary Frances Edwards
born: 13 April 1919
husband: Herbert Franklin Jones

9. Effie Virginia Edwards
born: 21 September 1881 - Greenfield, Weakley County, Tennessee
died: 29 May 1970
husband: William Robert Nesbitt

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Updated May 30, 2012