Edwards, Benjamin F.

Born: 1797-07-02 Montgomery County, Maryland

Died: 1877-04-27 Kirkwood, Missouri

Edwards graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and settled in Kentucky. In 1819, he married Betsy Green, and the couple moved to Franklin, Missouri, for a short while. They returned to Kentucky, but in 1827, he moved his family to Illinois, where his brother Ninian Edwards was governor. He settled in Edwardsville and took charge of the land office there and practiced medicine. In 1837, he moved to Alton, Illinois, where his other brother Cyrus Edwards lived. Apparently not content to remain in one place for long, Benjamin Edwards moved to St. Louis in 1844, and then went to California during the Gold Rush in 1849. While he was in California, his family lived in Alton. Edwards was a strong supporter of Shurtleff College and a strong Baptist who tried in vain to convince Elijah Lovejoy to curtail his anti-slavery editorials.

W. T. Norton, ed., Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People 1812 to 1912 (Chicago: Lewis, 1912), 1:381; Gravestone, Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, MO; Daily Illinois State Register (Springfield), 30 April 1877, 2:2-3.