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EDWARDS
Morgan Edwards (c.1750-Apr 1798) was the son of David
Heruet [Hewitt?] and Margaret Bradle [Bradley?] who were natives of Dublin, Ireland. This was recorded by the priest at St Louis Cathedral in New Orleans on 15
Apr 1793 at the baptism of two of his children. It does not imply
that his parents still resided in Ireland.
He was connected in some way to William Hewitt (d.1794) of New Orleans and to Hewitt's
"cousin" Christina Weeks (1737-1806), wife of Abel Goffigan, who moved to British West Florida about 1774 from Onslow Co, NC.
Her daughters were sponsors at the baptism of Morgan's daughters in
1793. In 1761 in Onslow, Abel lived next door to John
and Mary Hewitt. They had:
(1) Sarah Hewitt (b.1747) who married in 1766 Benjamin
Weeks (1736-1779) the nephew of Christina
(2) John Hewitt (1750-1809) who married
in 1770 Hannah Pitt, then in 1804 Nancy Weeks,
(3) Thomas Hewitt
(4) and one undocumented report of sons William and Willett.
Of unknown, if any, connection - Piere Hewit and Hendriet
Hewit were among the inhabitants of Mobile on 2 Oct 1764 who took the Oath of
Allegiance to King George of England after West Florida was transferred from
French to British rule in 1763. The area became Spanish in 1783.
Morgan Edwards was listed in the Spanish Census of New Orleans in June
1778. He may (or may not) have been associated with James Willing, who lead an American invasion of British West
Florida from Natchez to New Orleans in the spring of 1778. If so, that may have been the source of the family tradition that he was a pirate. The basis of this recent claim by
respected Louisiana historian Donald Sharp is that in the New Orleans Census of
June, 1778, Morgan was living next door (sic) to James Willing and some of his men.
Sharp's assertion that Morgan had accompanied him from Philadelphia to Fort Pitt
in December 1777, and down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Natchez, is
disproven by the lack of anyone with the names Morgan, Edwards, or Hewitt, in
either (1) the muster of Willing's men at Fort Pitt on 22 Dec 1777
[Frontier Defense on the Upper Ohio, 1777-1778
by
Reuben Gold Thwaites and Louise Phelps Kellogg, 1912; p.302]
nor (2) the listing of Willing's Company Jan 1778-June 1779 submitted by Gen
George Rogers Clark of the Illinois Department of the Virginia Militia, 16 May
1782. [Pennsylvania
Archives, Second Series, Vol 15, p.658]
Morgan might (no evidence) rather have been in the employ of New Orleans
merchant Oliver Pollock, who operated out of Philadelphia with a near franchise
on American commerce in Cuba and Louisiana. Or he could have (no
evidence) arrived with the Capt. William Pickles who obtained the surrender of
settlers on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in October 1779, completing Willing's temporary conquest of the area for the
new United
States. Or, he could have (no evidence) been
among the seamen of several British ships seized in the area by the American or
Spanish forces during the previous few months. For that matter, he or his
parents could have (no evidence) been among the Irish who moved to and
fought for Catholic Spain in the Eighteenth Century, notably including Field
Marshall Alejandro O'Reilly, Governor of Louisiana 1769-1770. However
Morgan got there, he
was able to rent lodgings for himself, alone, on St Louis Street; while Captain
Willing shared his lodgings, two doors away, with five of his men. One would
suppose that the leader of the expedition would claim the single, if one were available.
Mr. Sharp's elaborate and completely fictional account of Morgan Edwards'
youth as (he claims) the foster son of Philadelphia preacher Morgan Edwards .
lacks any single word of documentation at any point, particularly where
documentation should easily be found, if there were any.
There have been rumors of a British Land Grant to Morgan Edwards, but none has
ever been found. When the Spanish assumed control of West Florida in 1781, and
after it became official with the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the British land
owners on Lake Pontchartrain, who refused to swear allegiance to His Catholic
Majesty Charles III were given 18 months to sell their lands and move
away. But there were no buyers. And the Indians had destroyed what
little Willing's raiders had left; and they resisted resettlement. As many as
half of the Loyalists on Bayou Castein simply abandoned their properties and
moved to another British possession. Morgan Edwards occupied the abandoned
British grant of Major Spell, adjoining the land of Morris and Mary Smith, and
received a Spanish grant for that land on 2 June 1783. He also occupied
the lands of John Perry, Alexander McCullaugh, and others, located between his first
grant and Bayou Castein, receiving that grant 18 December 1787.
Officially, Morgan ran schooners and barges across Lake Pontchartrain, but he also is supposed to have had a guarded stockade on his plantation, now the site of
Mandeville, Louisiana, across Bayou Castein from Fontainebleau State Park.
He would be gone at sea for long periods of time and return with great riches and gifts for everyone, the more
traditional account of his being a pirate. The Province of West Florida (Louisiana east of the Mississippi River) was under English control from 1763 to 1783, and Spanish from 1783 to 1810.
A Spanish document,
written in French, on 11 May 1798 states that "Morgan Edwards appears to have
died a few days ago" and directs Charles Parent in West Florida to administer his estate. One family tradition says that he died at sea. A death date of
9 Apr 1798 is
undocumented, and more than "a few days" prior to the order to Parent. His plantation house and grave (if any) were washed into Lake Ponchartrain by a hurricane in 1810. The estate was sold in 1829 to Bernard Marigny de Mandeville who built the town of
Mandeville there. Comparing the "Guillemard Map" of 1798 with
current maps, it appears that Morgan Edwards' house was located in what is now
Lake Ponchartrain, just off the beach, east of Foy Street in Mandeville.
Morgan Edwards married about 1782 Margaret Smith (c.1763-1821) daughter of Morris and
Mary Smith, who moved from New York to British West Florida
about 1777. After Morgan's death, she married Hugh
Sheridan 1 Nov 1800 at St Bernard's Church in (old) Galveztown, Louisiana.
Eastern Louisiana a History..., by Frederick Williamson and George
Goodman, 1939, incorrectly named Morgan's wife as Amanda. There is no
document of any kind suggesting that was her name. The guess was
apparently that the town of Mandeville was named for her. That is
positively incorrect. The town was built and named by Bernard Marigny de
Mandeville, who then owned the land.
1. Mary Edwards (c.1783-before 1810) married 12 Jul 1800 John Wood (1777-1857)
at St
. . .Bernard's Church in old
Galveztown. She was baptized (Catholic) the same day, age 17.
. . .A
birth date of 1 Feb 1783 is undocumented. She was buried in the Edwards Cemetery, lost to
. . .the hurricane
in 1810.
. . .
11. James Wood (1802-12 Oct 1811)
. . . 12. Jacob Wood
(25 May 1804-27 May 1861) m.1830 Jemima Morris (1813-1891)
2. John Wilkes "Jack" Edwards (26 Jul 1784-20 Sep 1847) married Mary Jane
Weathersby, but
. . . had two children by Nancy Ann Lloyd;
first sheriff of St Tammany Parish in 1813.
His birthdate is
. . . often given as 26 Jul 1774. But the Census of 1840, Washington Parish,
shows him aged 50-60.
3. Daniel Edwards (29 Jan 1787-5 Jul 1877) m.7 Apr 1814 Mary "Polly" Cooper
(d.6 Aug 1827),
. . .daughter of Henry
Cooper, 5 children; m.17 Jul 1834 Eliza Ann Bankston (6 May 1814-12 Dec
. . .1882) daughter of Lesley Bankston and
Elizabeth Brewer, 10 children. Daniel was a Colonel in the
. . .War of 1812, and was reported to have been presented a sword by Andrew Jackson, which
hung
. . .in his house until the mid-1900's. He
settled in 1811 on the west bank of the
Tchefuncta River in
. . .St Tammany Parish. In 1819, the surveyor set up
his
instrument in the center hallway of Colonel
. . .Edwards' house to set the boundary
between Washington and St Tammany Parishes, leaving the
. . .south part of the house
in St Tammany, but placing the north part in the new Washington Parish.
. . .The house was reunited again when Tangipahoa Parish was formed in 1869.
Daniel was a
. . .Representative of the St. Ferdinand District
of West Florida to the 1810 convention that called for
. . .an end to Spanish Rule. He was the area
representative to the legislature of the short-lived
. . .Republic of West Florida, September-December
1810. He represented St Tammany Parish in the
. . .Louisiana State Legislature 1828-1832, and was
elected a State Senator in 1845. Late in life, he
. . .was made a Brigadier
General.
. . .
31. Nicholas Stone Edwards
(17 Nov 1816-12 Oct 1894) married Adeline Bankston (12 Jun 1826 - 11 Oct 1881)
. . . 32. Robert Thomas Edwards (19 Aug 1818) married Emily Mariner,
Lived in St Tammany Pr. in 1850.
. . . 33. Mary Margaret Edwards (20 May 1820-9 Apr
1860) m22 Dec 1840 William Dudley Jones
Warner
(21 May 1817-
. . . . . . 17 Sep 1877) He m.14 May 1837 Asenath P Rhodes; m.19
Jan 1862 Lizzie A White, and lived in East Feliciana Pr.
. . . 34. John Wilkes Edwards (17 Feb 1822-1852) single
. . . 35. Andrew Jackson Edwards (15 Mar 1824) married Martha Sticker
. . . 36. Martha Edwards (21 Sep 1838) m(1) Barney Elliot m(2) Edward McCann
. . . 37. Bolivar Edwards (3 Jul 1837-20 Feb 1903) married Sallie Elizabeth Stewart
. . . 38. Frances Jane Edwards (23 Nov 1838) married Sam Bogan
. . . 39. Morgan Edwards (20 Aug 1841-30 Aug 1864) single
. . . 30. Charles Edwards (11 Feb 1843-2 Oct
1843)
. . . 31. Catharine Edwards (9 Sep
1844-1911) single
. . . 32. Esther Edwards (11 Sep 1846-18 Sep
1878) married William Leander Varnado
. . . 33. Daniel Edwards, Jr. (8 Nov 1849-6
Dec 1935) married Louise Amanda Storey
(1857-1940)
. . . 34. George Edwards (6 Feb 1851) married Drusilla Stevens
. . . 35. William Edwards (25 Jul 1852) went west and was not heard from again.
4. Margaret Edwards (30 Jul 1789-6 Nov 1864) m.1805 Samuel Simms m.1816 James Lorriens
... .m.1821 Thomas Tate, see below
5. Aner Edwards (1 Feb 1792-before 1829) never married. She was
baptized 5 April 1793 as
. . ."Maria
Luisa," presumably because the priest felt her given name was not Catholic
enough, but in
. . .1812,
she signed a letter "Aner," (pronounced AY-ner) and that spelling continued as a name in the
. . .family for at least three more generations.
"Mary Louise" was also used.
6. Robert Edwards (c.1794-c.1835) m.17 Mar 1819 Esther Gill
(d.1843) He served as a private in
. . .Thomas Bickham's Company, 12th and
13th Consolidated Regiments, Louisiana Militia, in the War
. . .of 1812. He owned 640 acres on Big Creek
in Washington Parish, and represented that Parish in
. . .the State Legislature in
1832 and 1833. Esther purchased land in her own name 8 Mar 1836
. . .adjoining her other tract, indicating that Robert was then
deceased. She entered land in San
. . .Augustine County,
Republic of Texas, March 1838, and her estate was in probate there 20 Sep
. . .1843. Her children sold her land in
Washington Parish 9 Feb 1855.
. . . 61. daughter Edwards
(1830 Census shows one son and one daughter between age 5 and 9; died before
1855)
. . . 62. William
C Edwards (1824-1856) marred Sarah J (1827) San Augustine Co, Texas
. . .
63. Charlotte E Edwards (29 Aug 1827-11 Dec 1907) m.9 Sep 1851 Henry L Rankin
(1822-1883) Hempstead, Texas
. . . 64. Augustus Daniel Edwards (1830-1882) m.13 Feb
1855 Florence Rosalie Simpson (1836-1877) m.1880 Mrs. Kate
. . . . . . Knight (1852) druggist in Terrell, Kaufman Co, TX
. . .
65. Robert G Edwards (1834-before 1876) m.30 Jul 1856 Mary J Buford (1839-after
1900) Hopkins Co TX in 1870
. . .
7. Charles Morgan Edwards (8 Dec 1797-8 Oct 1835) m.31 Dec 1818 Eliza Roach (1800-1866)
. . .He served as a private in Captain Sprigg's
Company of Boatmen, Louisiana Volunteers, in the
. . .War of 1812. After his marriage, he
moved to Jackson, Miss, where his wife ran the Planters Hotel.
. . . 71. Mary Jane Edwards (1819-16 Nov 1898) m.18 May 1837 Martin Rufus
Dudley (1811-13 Apr 1848) m.20 Jan 1852
. . . . . . Benjamin
Magruder
. . . 72. Maria Louise Edwards (6 Feb 1828) m 2 Dec 1846 Dickinson McCrery (d.29 Oct 1853)
m.6 Apr 1857 John W
. . . . . . Downs (6 Jan 1824-13 Jun 1919) lived in
Canton, MS
. . . 73. Anna E Edwards (1829) m.7 Mar 1848 Benjamin T Cleveland (1823-1852)
m.2 Dec 1856 Peyton Randolph
. . . . . . Sutherland
. . . 74. Amelia Edwards (6 Dec 1833-1921) m.27 May 1862 James Drane (24 Feb 1808/9 Mar
1869)
. . . 75. Benjamin Edwards (1836-after 1860)
8. Samuel Sheridan (6 May 1801-20 Feb 1867) m.1841 Rebecca Elizabeth Hunt (1821-1895) lived
. . .in
Washington Parish, LA.
. . . 81. Margaret Sheridan (c1842)
married William Elliott
. . . 82. Charlotte Sarah Sheridan (c1844)
. . . 83. Hugh Sheridan (c1846) married Sidney
Cordelia Dyer
. . . 84. James Sheridan (16 Mar 1848-19 Sep 1904)
married Marganie Magee
. . . 85. Samuel Sheridan (19 Dec 1849-21 Jan 1926)
m.26 Feb 1880 Sarah Lenora Pierce
9. Charlotte Sheridan
(8 Mar
1804-late 1844) m.20 Feb 1831 Dr. John Allen Veatch (5 Mar 1808 - . .
. . .24 Apr 1870) moved
to Nacogdoches, in the Mexican province of Texas, in 1834. He was a
. . .physician. He remarried about 1850 Anne
Bradley, and moved to California, then Virginia
. . .City, Nevada,
and died in Portland, Oregon.
. . . 91. Andrew
Allen Veatch (1832-11 Mar 1871) married Annie Elizabeth Smith; California
. . . 92. Samuel Houston Veatch (17 Aug 1833-after
1900) m.6 Dec 1855 Helen M Bradshaw, Texas
. . . 93. Lucien Veatch (c1834)
Margaret "Peggy" Edwards (30 Jul 1789-6 Nov 1864) married 1805/6 Samuel Simms (d.1818) of Baton Rouge. They separated but did not divorce.
On 7 February, 1816, she married Jacques "James" Lorriens (d.1820) who had 2000
acres of land on the east bank of the Tchefuncte River opposite Madisonville. On
14 Feb 1821, she married Thomas Tate (1775-1838) and lived in St Tammany Pr, near the current boundary with Tangipahoa Pr. and Washington Pr.
For the next generation of Tate children, see TATE.
1. Delphine Lorriens (1809-1830) m.1824 Abram Penn
(26 May 1801-17 Oct 1878) Delphine was
. . sent to convent school. The little lock stitch she learned there in
hand sewing was passed down to
. . current generations of her siblings' descendants.
Abram Penn m.22 Sep 1831 Sarah Angeline
. . Hosmer (1812-1853) and had 10 more children in
Covington, Louisiana.
. . . .11.
Cora Penn
. . . 12. Sarah
Lucinda Penn (6 Feb 1826-21 Sep 1909) m. Nov 1847 Jesse Ruble Kirkland (d.12 Jun
1862) and moved to
. . . . . . .Brandon, Mississippi, 7 children.
Their descendants moved to Texas.
. . . .13. James Alexander Penn
2. Thomas Edwards Tate (16 Dec 1821 - 21 Nov 1914) married 5 Jan 1845 Mary Vernon
Cutrer
. . (1825-1892) then m. 27 Nov 1893 her sister Nancy Cutrer, widow of Jesse Westmoreland.
3. Aner Edwards Tate (2 Mar 1824) m.29 Sep 1839 Alexander Cookley Brumfield (1811-c.1889)
. . .lived in Washington Pr, LA. 6 children
4. Mary Charlotte Tate (2 Oct 1826 - May 1905) married 1844 William Sydney Linear, then m.1859
. . .Rev. Henry D. Berry, lived in Pike County and had three children.
5. Daniel Edwards Tate (25 Aug 1831-2 Mar 1877) married 7 Dec 1865 Caroline Collins (no issue)
. . .m(2) 21 Jul 1868 Margaret Jane Dyson, (1844-1930), 6 children, lived in Pike Co, MS |