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Below is a family biography included in The History of Sumner County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887. These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary. Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more. There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.
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J. Edwards, farmer and stock raiser, near Saundersville, was born in Norfolk County, Va., in March, 1815. He is one of five children of Thos. and Mary (Bartee) Edwards. The father was born in England in May, 1765, and came to Rutherford County in 1818 as a farmer; he died in 1849. The mother, of French origin, was born in Norfolk County, Va., in 1782, and died in 1857. With common-school advantages, he began for himself, at eighteen, as salesman for J. R. Daniel & Co., of Murfreesboro. Two years later he took a like position with John W. Walker & Co., general merchandise, Nashville, of which firm he became partner. In 1848 he married Sarah E., daughter of Thos. and Calpurnia (Gray) Keenan, and born in Courtland, Ala., in 1829. Their four children are Sarah A., wife of John F. McCreary, traveling for Goodell, Lite & Jones, Nashville; William H., farmer; Mary B., wife of J. W. Foster, lumber dealer, White Bluff, Tenn., and Jos., Jr., bookkeeper for Cowan & Co., Nashville. Previous to the war a Whig, he has since been a Democrat. His wife and two daughters, Sarah and Mary, are members of the Presbyterian Church. Since 1859, when he bought his present 316 acres, he has lived in Sumner County.
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This family biography is one of 115 biographies included in The History of Sumner County, Tennessee published in 1887. The History of Sumner County was included within The History of Sumner, Smith, Macon & Trousdale Counties of Tennessee. View the complete description here: History of Sumner, Smith, Macon and Trousdale Counties of Tennessee
View additional Sumner County, Tennessee family biographies here: Sumner County, Tennessee
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