Edward Colston (December 25, 1786 – April 23, 1852) was a Virginia lawyer, slaveholder and

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

(and later Whig) politician who served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

and

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Early and family life

The eldest son born to the former Elizabeth Marshall (1756-1842; sister of future Chief Justice

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...

), and her husband Raleigh Colston (1749-1823), Edward Colston was born into the

First Families of Virginia The First Families of Virginia, or FFV, are a group of early settler families who became a socially and politically dominant group in the British Colony of Virginia and later the Commonwealth of Virginia. They descend from European colonists who ...

on his father's estate, "Honeywood," overlooking the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

in what became

Berkeley County, West Virginia Berkeley County is located in the Shenandoah Valley in the eastern panhandle region of West Virginia in the United States. The county is part of the Hagerstown–Martinsburg metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, t ...

, about a decade after his death. He would have three younger brothers as well as three sisters, and inherited Honeywood, which he would operate until his death. As was customary for gentleman of his class, Edward Colston received a private education, then was sent to New Jersey for higher studies. He graduated from

Princeton College Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

in 1806, then read law. He first married Jane Marshall of

Fauquier County Fauquier County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,972. The county seat is Warrenton. Fauquier County is in Northern Virginia and is a part of the Washington metropolitan area. History ...

, but she died in 1815. In 1825 Colston met and married Jane Brockenbrough of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, and they had three sons and four daughters. After this Edward Colston's death, all their sons (Raleigh T. Colston, Edward Colston Jr. and William Brockenbrough Colston) would become

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

officers, after recruiting the Hedgesville Blues (which became part of the Stonewall Brigade,

2nd Virginia Infantry The 2nd Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in today's western Virginia and what became West Virginia during the American Civil War for service in the Confederate States Army. It would combine with the 4th, 5th, 27th, an ...

). Only Raleigh died in the war (one of the few casualties of the

Battle of Mine Run The Battle of Mine Run, also known as Payne's Farm, or New Hope Church, or the Mine Run campaign (November 27 – December 2, 1863), was conducted in Orange County, Virginia, in the American Civil War. An unsuccessful attempt of the Union ...

in 1863); William followed his father's path into Berkeley County politics and the junior Edward became a lawyer politician in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. His nephew Raleigh E. Colston (son of his brother Dr. Raleigh T. Colston) would become a controversial Confederate general and also survived the Civil War.

Career

Edward Colston was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

and practiced in what later became the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, although the local Berkeley County judges chose fellow lawyer, soldier and politician Elisha Boyd as the local prosecutor (and he would serve four decades). Like Boyd, Colston served in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, volunteering as a private in Charles Faulkner's artillery company (which helped defend

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

against British land and naval forces). He later received a lieutenant's commission in an infantry regiment. Berkeley County voters elected Colston to the

several times. He first served from 1812 until 1814, then from 1816 to 1817, before winning election to the

Fifteenth In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...

Congress (March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1819) with 64.35% of the vote, defeating Democratic-Republicans Daniel Morgan and Robert Bailey. Colston did not seek re-election but returned to Honeywood because his father needed help handling the family's plantations. In the 1820 census, this Edward Colston owned 13 slaves and also farmed with the assistance of one free black boy. His father owned more slaves. By 1840, Edward Colston's family had grown to include 10 persons (6 of them children), and 18 slaves, as well as the now-over 55 year old free black man and a 24 to 34 year old free black woman.Misindexing may have occurred in the 1850 U.S. Federal census, the last in his lifetime, for he shows as a slaveholder in the Virginia census of that year, which is not available online, but not ancestry.com's index. After his father's death in 1823, Berkeley County voters again elected Edward Colston as one of their representatives in the House of Delegates, so he served from 1823 to 1828, and then from 1833 to 1835. He lost an attempt to return to the U.S. Congress in 1825 to Democratic-Republican William Armstrong of Hampshire County. Berkeley County voters also elected Colston their High Sheriff in 1844 and 1845. In 1835, Colston built a dam to create slackwater on the upper

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the Grand Old Ditch, operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Patowmack Canal ...

and power a mill. The mill burned several times in the ensuing decades, and the dam also became a strategic site in the American Civil War. It was superseded by a paper mill , but the dam exists today as Honeywood Dam (on the National Register of Historic Places and within the

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is located in the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland. The park was established in 1961 as a National Monument by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to preserve the neglected remains o ...

Death and legacy

Colston died on his estate "Honeywood," near modern

Hedgesville, West Virginia Hedgesville is a town in Berkeley County, West Virginia, Berkeley County, West Virginia, United States, in the state's Eastern Panhandle region. The population was 300 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town sits on West Virginia ...

, on April 23, 1852, and was interred in the family burying ground.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colston, Edward 1786 births 1852 deaths People from Hedgesville, West Virginia Virginia lawyers Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century Virginia politicians 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly