My Genealogy Hound

AMOS H. EDWARDS was born in Mt. Holly, Rutland county, Vt., January 29, 1817, and is a son of Frederick Augustus and Polly (Barker) Edwards.

Frederick Augustus Edwards was born in Temple, N. H., July 27, 1791, married in 1814 and emigrated to Mt. Holly, Vt., where he engaged first in teaching, afterwards in farming, and then in cabinet making — following these several pursuits through life. He died in Chester, Vt., in 1842. He was a zealous member of, and deacon in, the Baptist church till his death. He took a decided interest in his church, was prominent in religious affairs throughout his state, and was a man of the most benevolent impulses and spent most of his time administering to the wants of the sick and afflicted. Mr. Edwards’ paternal grandfather was Ebenezer Edwards, a native of England, who immigrated to America in early life. He engaged in the mercantile business at Temple, N. H., and amassed considerable wealth, which, however, he lost through the mismanagement of others, principally by the failure of the Amherst bank, in which he had deposited $50,000. He died about the year 1825. Mr. Edwards’ mother, Polly Barker, born January 4, 1793, was also a native of Temple, N. H., and was a daughter of Theodore Barker.

Amos H. Edwards began life for himself about the age of eighteen, his father giving him his time at that date. He attended the common schools in his youth, but in the fall of 1835, he attended Black River academy at Ludlow, Vt. He began teaching in the fall of 1835, teaching his first school at Mt. Holly, Vt., in the very building where his father had taught his first school many years before. In the spring of 1836 he attended an academy at Chester, Vt., where he received the principal part of his education. He has taught school every year since, except one, till 1890, having taught in all one hundred and thirty-five terms. He emigrated from Vermont in the spring of 1838 to Pennsylvania and taught school there one year. He then went to Ohio, where he taught several years, in the meantime teaching several terms in Kentucky, and moving later to Wisconsin, in 1850, where he taught for twenty-five years. He came to Buffalo county, this state, in the spring of 1876, and located on a farm six and a-half miles northeast of Kearney, where he lived until January, 1888, moving into the city of Kearney at that time. He has been steadily engaged in teaching since coming to Buffalo county and he is well and favorably known in many localities throughout the county as an able instructor. He has belonged to several secret societies in his life, among then a number of temperance organizations. He is a man of warm nature and the most generous impulses, and he has devoted the greater part of a long life to the good of his fellow-man. He is always punctual to the minute and desires strict punctuality in others. His organ of philoprogenitiveness is very fully developed.

Mr. Edwards married, August 1, 1843, Miss Eliza C. Grant, of Greenfield, N. H. She is a daughter of John and Sallie (Taylor) Grant. Her father, John Grant, was born in Greenfield, N. H., and was a farmer by occupation, an upright, industrious and useful citizen. He was a life-long member of the Presbyterian church, and died in the faith by which he had lived, passing away in 1852. His wife was a native of the same state, a member of the same church, and died in 1882.

To Mr. and Mrs. Edwards have been born a family of eight children, as follows - Altaire H., born August 7, 1844 (died in the Union army during the late war); Charles P., born January 23, 1847; Alphonso C., born June 10, 1851; Ella C., born March 25, 1853; Eo E., born July 23, 1855; Eddie S., born October 29, 1856; Bert E., born February 18, 1860, and Ivers C. born April 25, 1863.

Mr. Edwards, in addition to the positions he has held in connection with his school work, has also held a number of local offices, such as any good citizen might be expected to fill when called on for that purpose. In politics he is a prohibitionist, and an able exponent of the principles of his party. He has been a contributor to a number of journals on the subject of prohibition, and his writings under the nom de plume of Charles Chester, are widely read and highly appreciated, and unquestionably have done much good for the cause of temperance. He has also written a great deal of poetry, and some of his contributions to the press have become very popular. He is the author of the longest poem ever written by an American, which is entitled “The Great Rebellion.”

Mr. Edwards is a pleasant, genial gentleman, a finished scholar and a man of sound heart. He makes a lasting impression even on casual acquaintances, and those who meet him wish that there were more men in the world like him.