Edwards Family Genealogy

Notes on Specific Lines

Here I would like to give information on specific lines.  Some lines I have personally worked on, and so am more familiar with that research than that which others have researched.  Some information has been taken from sources such as the IGI, but not yet completely verified.  Ten years ago, I was not nearly as good at noting sources as I am now, so the quality will vary with the branch of family.  Needless to say, it will take many years to get everything slapped into shape.  We all may make mistakes, so those researching these lines should re-verify all information found here.  I’ll try to give you a general idea of the research done, or the source of information for each particular line, as well as the general shape each is in.  Additional information added in December 2002, I have added in this color. 

 

  • EDWARDS:  The Edwards lines I have worked extensively on.  Lists of descendants have been given to me by many family members in New Zealand and the United States.  Unfortunately, since most of them are living, I have chosen not to include them on this site.  If you are a relative, I’d be glad to give you more information on descendants.  Just e-mail me and let me know how you fit in.  So far, I have been unable to determine where exactly in England John Edwards Sr. was born.  Nor have I been able to find out exactly where in Wales he was married, or where his wife or daughter, Jane, were born.  Additional photos have been added to individuals in the Edwards line.  I’m hoping to go to Europe in Oct 2003 to extend these lines out further.  I am specifically going to work on the following lines:  Dames, Itzholtz, Richardt, and Witte.
  • GREY/SALMON:  The Grey line has been heavily researched.  I have searched about 25% of southwest Wiltshire, as well as quite a few parishes in north Dorset and east Somerset for a marriage for Thomas Grey and Mary; also for Thomas’ birth.  There are two possibilities, both of which I have included in this file.  Unfortunately, I haven’t turned up much information.  The Salmon line I carefully researched and used tombstones, coupled with records in the Somerset Records Office to prove it.  Much more work needs to be done, however, in area searching, since all the Salmon lines die out in Corston, Somerset.
  • FRANKLIN/GUNDERSEN:  I haven’t done much research on the Franklin line, but I know it is correct at least back to Benjamin Franklin/Mary Ann Godsall and John Hurren/Elizabeth Seaman, since we have good family records to that point.  Before that, I believe entries were found on the IGI that matched the family, but careful research still needs to be done.  The Gundersen family I have researched heavily.  The only doubts I have are 1) Johann Christian Redel being the father of Gottfried Wilhelm Redel (see their notes); 2) Martin Diederich’s father, Jürgen, may have been married to Elisabeth Metzelt.  Both situations should be carefully checked out.  We were very fortunate to be able to trace Heinrich Ludwig Redel from Denmark back to Germany.  On his second marriage record, an unusually informative priest mentioned that his town of birth in Germany was Spandau.  Work by researchers is currenly underway in Europe to expand this line, especially the lines from Quedlinburg, Wittenberg, Schmiedeberg (possibly), and Peitz.   I have recently (Aug-Sep 2002) found a new line from Sweden.  I have found in Sweden the birth of Helene Bolvig, wife of Gottfried Wilhelm Redel.  Additional photos have been added to individual records.
  • LARSEN:  The Larsen line has been researched by many, and this information I have received from the family organization.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to spend much time verifying it yet.
  • COMISH/STANFORD:  There seem to be two or three Comish pedigrees that Comish relatives have.  I have also seen some conflicting information in some of the Stanford lines.  Since the conflicts occur so recently in time (near 1800), with respect to the whole pedigree, I have decided not to include any of that information here.  It is available on the Ancestral File™ and from other sources, however.  I have actually added the portion of the Comish family that was verified by my brother, Jeff.  He was able to prove these connections recently using photos of tombstones from the Isle of Man, along with the church records.
  • PRATT/MORRIS:  The Pratt and Morris lines have been very much researched, and are quite a handful, so I would also refer you to the Ancestral File™,  Internet, and other sources for these lines.  It is interesting to note that the Newberry portion of the Morris line may include American Indian ancestry, according to Sue Simonich.
  • MERRILL:  The ancestry of Mary Ann Merrill has been researched by family for quite some time.  Several years ago I found a transcription of a letter from Valentine Merrill to his son, Albert, naming his parents and grandparents, as well as his wife’s parents and grandparents.  This was in contradiction to the generally accepted pedigree, so this should be a very carefully researched and verified.  Additionally, Joan and David Sisson wrote a book called Descendants of Richard and Mary Sisson:  Ten Generations from 1608, which was very helpful in connecting our family into their line.  Likewise, they were uncertain about where our line (Peleg Sisson, b. 1720, Portsmouth, Rhode Island) ended up.
  • JENKINS:  The Jenkins line has been a tough nut to crack.  Thanks to Evelyn Jensen, I was able to piece a lot of information on this line together.  This family comes form Carmarthenshire in Wales and the surrounding area.  Information I have is quite limited.  I did find one more individual on a trip to Wales (Martha David, dau. of Lewis and Margaret Davis), but other than that, I haven’t had any additional success.
  • BERG/ANDERSEN:  Both lines were apparently researched by a professional researcher hired by the family in the 50’s or 60’s.  From relatives I have received family groups for the Berg line, which I’ve data entered.  Information on the Andersen pedigree was unknown to me until recently.  Even then, I only had a direct-line pedigree for most of it.  I found most of those families in the IGI, and was able to reconstruct family groups from the information on the pedigree chart.  Some conflicting information was found.  This will require a lot of work in verification.  Apparently the researcher researched only church records.  Many of the lines can be extended much further back using Norwegian bygdebøker (parish histories).  I have recently added an additional 80 names or so found in bygdebøker.
  • FARVID (فرويد)/MAHMOODIAN (محموديان):  The Iranian lines are unfortunately, very incomplete, due to lack of access to or availability of records.  Memory, photos, and word-of-mouth is what I have relied on here, but am still quite pleased nontheless, as we have four generations back from my wife, and we have over 100 photos of relatives (mostly living).
  • MOORE/DEWAR:  The Moore and Dewar lines are probably quite accurate from Albert Edward Moore on back at least four generations.  The Moore and Shaw lines previous to the fourth generation back from Albert, however, were taken from the IGI, and so need more research to verify them.  Information on the Hodgson line has been graciously offered by Ray Abbott.  I haven’t had time to verify that line yet, but this breakthrough is exciting.  Many more descendants will hopefully be added to the database this year, since there is currently a project going to find all the descendants of Albert and Lella.
  • (Š)KUDRNA/TRINKL:  I’ve researched both lines quite heavily, and both are fairly well documented.  Records of the Austrian Empire are some of the best to be had.  In a birth or marriage (and even death) record in the mid-1800’s, you can expect to find the names of those born/married, their parents’, grandparents’, great-grandparents’, and in some cases, even great-great-grandparents’ names (with maiden name for women), town of origin for each with address (military conscription number of house), among other information. The Trinkl line (Niederösterreich, Austria) I am quite certain is correct, with the exception of Katharina Feigl’s pedigree.  I’ve had to rely on some circumstantial evidence for that, but at the moment, it’s the best I have.  Researchers are currenly working in Austria to expand this line for us.  The Kudrna/Škudrna line I’m quite certain of, especially since I have had so many of these “pedigrees” in each birth or marriage record to work with, which can be overlayed on top of each other to push the pedigree back.  I’m hoping to go to Europe in Oct 2003 to extend these lines out further.  The best Austrian lines to research Ollersbach, Niederösterreich.  Those from Schiltingeramt and Eisenbergeramt actually end up in Gföhl, which most likely don’t exist prior to 1797 (destroyed in a fire).  Czech Republic:  The Vladyka lines will be researched minimally (Třeboň archive) and the Kudrna/Škudrna lines (Plzeň archive) quite heavily, since I haven’t  been able to research there yet, while I have been to Třeboň.

 

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Prepared by:

Shon R. Edwards
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This web site produced 08 Dec 2002 by Personal Ancestral File.

 

May be freely used for non-commercial genealogical purposes, as long as this web page is cited.