Abraham Edwards (November 17, 1781 – October 22, 1860) was an American physician and politician in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during 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 ...

and was president of the

Michigan Territorial Council The Michigan Territorial Council, known formally as the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, was the legislative body of the Territory of Michigan from 1824 to 1835, when it was succeeded by the Michigan Legislature in anticipation o ...

for a majority of its existence.

Biography

Abraham Edwards was born in Springfield, New Jersey, on November 17, 1781. He was the eldest son of Captain Aaron Edwards. He studied medicine and became a licensed physician in 1803. He was appointed a surgeon in the

in 1804 and was stationed in

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 United S ...

, where he met his wife. When she became ill in 1810, he resigned his commission and moved to

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, to practice medicine. He was elected to the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Colu ...

in 1811, representing Montgomery County in the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

.'Legislative Manual of the State of Ohio 1919-1920,' W. E. Halley/John P. Maynard-compilers, The F.J. Heer Printing Company, Columbus, Ohio: 1920, Alphabetical List Of Members Of The General Assembly Of Ohio For One Hundred Seventeen Years-1803-1920, p. 260

Service during the War of 1812

In the prelude to the

, Edwards was appointed captain in the 19th Infantry Regiment, and his unit joined with General

William Hull William Hull (June 24, 1753 – November 29, 1825) was an American military officer and politician. A veteran of the American Revolutionary War, he later served as governor of the Michigan Territory (1805–1813), where he negotiated land cessi ...

's army marching toward Detroit to defend it from the British. He was selected to fill a vacancy as the surgeon for the 4th Infantry Regiment and remained in that post until Hull's surrender of Detroit to

Isaac Brock Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. He is best remembered for his victory at the Siege of Detroit and his death at the Battle of Quee ...

on August 16, 1812. He was taken prisoner but was paroled and allowed to return home to Dayton. After being exchanged for a British officer, he resumed service as a captain in charge of recruiting at

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in Ross County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 22,059 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, ...

, until November 1813. He took 200 men of the 19th Regiment to Detroit in December 1813 at the order of General

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was a United States Army officer and politician. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He was also the 1 ...

, then accompanied Cass to

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, to attend Hull's

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

. Edwards then traveled to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where he was promoted to the rank of major and placed in charge of the quartermaster's stores in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, where he served for the rest of the war. Following the resumption of peace, Edwards was given the opportunity to remain in the army as a captain, but he chose to return to private practice and moved his family to Detroit in October 1815.

Political career

In Detroit, Edwards resumed his interest in politics and was elected president of the city's board of trustees in 1816 and 1817. This gave him the opportunity to meet and host President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

on his visit to Detroit in 1818. Edwards served as treasurer of the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1821 and then on its

Board of Trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

from 1822 to 1837. The

Territory of Michigan The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

held an election in 1823 that chose 18 people—including Edwards—from whom President Monroe was to select nine to form the First Michigan Territorial Council, a new legislative body to replace the governor and judges that had previously governed the territory. Edwards was one of the nine Monroe appointed, and was elected president of the council at its first session, a position which he held for the next eight years. Edwards left Detroit in 1828, along with his wife and ten children, and started west with three covered wagons. They traveled for 18 days before stopping in the settlement of Beardsley's Prairie in

Cass County, Michigan Cass County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 51,589. Its county seat is Cassopolis. Cass County is included in the South Bend– Mishawaka, IN-MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area which has a ...

, where they built a new home. The village was later renamed Edwardsburg after him. He was appointed register in the

land office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department ...

established in White Pigeon in 1831, and the family moved there. The land office moved again in May 1834, to

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

, and the Edwards family again moved with it. He stayed in his position at the land office until 1849, when he was removed by President

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

because he was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. In 1852, Edwards served as an

elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of t ...

for Michigan, casting his vote for the Democratic nominees,

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

and William R. King. Edwards died in Kalamazoo on October 22, 1860.

Family

Edwards married Ruth Fessenden Hunt in Fort Wayne in June 1805. She was the daughter of the fort's commandant, Colonel Thomas Hunt. Among their ten children were Thomas, Alexander, Henry, Alice, and Julia.

Notes

References

* * * * * * , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Abraham 1781 births 1860 deaths Physicians from New Jersey 1852 United States presidential electors Michigan Democrats Members of the Michigan Territorial Legislature Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Regents of the University of Michigan 19th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly