The name Beverly in our family has long been a mystery because our oldest relative, William Beverly Young, the son of John Colby Young and Mary E. Edwards, was an orphan at a young age and no one that we know of ever asked him why his middle name was Beverly. Uncle Bill died in 1987 and for all we knew, that mystery died with him.
Recently, after finding out who the parents of Mary E. Edwards were, the mystery was soon to be solved. Mary Edwards was the daughter of William Martin Edwards and Sarah Caldwell. Sarah Caldwell was the daughter of Beverly Caldwell and Phoebe Hatcher. There it was, right before me, the key to the mystery! I just sat and looked at the record holding my excitement while silently smiling at my computer screen. I didn't understand the meaning of naming a boy Beverly but for the family who originated from Ireland, it was tradition. Sarah Caldwell the daughter of Beverly Caldwell, married William Martin Edwards and had several children, one of which she named a son Beverly Bernard Edwards. Beverly Bernard Edwards was a brother of Mary E. Edwards, so it all makes sense that she named her son William Beverly Young.
The name Beverly shows up several times as Beverly Bernard Edwards went on to name one of his sons Henry Beverly Edwards. Finally the youngest of the Beverly name went to Beverly Young, daughter born to Robert Martin Young, grandson of Mary E. Edwards. Beverly Young is the only female to have the name.
This information probably means nothing to most people, but to our family it means the world.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Mary E. Edwards
After much searching and a little frustration, the Edwards family is no longer a mystery! Our family tree has long been stopped at John Colby Young and Mary E. Edwards.
Recently my dad handed me a collection of documents to see if I could find any clues. There was a hand written note by a man named William Edwards giving permission for John Colby to marry his daughter. It was the first clue since I never had a name for the father of Mary Edwards!
The middle initial looked like an "N" a "U" or maybe an "M" and after reviewing the rules of cursive handwriting which is hardly used in our day, my dad and I realized the middle initial was definitely an "M."
I pulled up a 1900 census just to take a look and see if I had missed any hints. Suddenly I noticed there was a column for the number of children born, and then another column for the number of children surviving. It clearly said that Mary Edwards had 9 children and that only 5 survived. I was never aware of this information but given the time of the late 1800's it all made sense. There were also some gaps in years of her 5 children that I never could quite understand. Now it was time to look back into the 1880 census which I was never able to match one to John Colby and Mary Edwards since the info was a little bit off and didn't seem to be accurate.
Alas, the 1880 census in Illinois showed a "J. C. Young" and a "Mary E. Young" living with two infants. I'm sure I have seen this census record before but brushed it off since I had always held true that Robert Cleveland was the oldest child, when in fact he was the oldest surving child. It was a joy to finally place this record with its rightful owners.
Now, the next clue came upon me on this 1880 census where it listed the birthplace of the mother and father of each indivual. For Mary, she listed her father being born in Virginia, and her mother in Kentucky. Now for John Colby, he listed both parents as being born in "Unknown."
All these years we had this idea that John Colby's family was Welsh. Uncle Bill told my father this several times but couldn't quite explain why he knew this information since his father died when he was 9 years old and his mother died a few years later. Since John Colby was a Union soldier and his family was said to have been Southern sympathizers, I always pictured this extreme patriotism with deep roots embedded into the south.
Recently my dad handed me a collection of documents to see if I could find any clues. There was a hand written note by a man named William Edwards giving permission for John Colby to marry his daughter. It was the first clue since I never had a name for the father of Mary Edwards!
The middle initial looked like an "N" a "U" or maybe an "M" and after reviewing the rules of cursive handwriting which is hardly used in our day, my dad and I realized the middle initial was definitely an "M."
I pulled up a 1900 census just to take a look and see if I had missed any hints. Suddenly I noticed there was a column for the number of children born, and then another column for the number of children surviving. It clearly said that Mary Edwards had 9 children and that only 5 survived. I was never aware of this information but given the time of the late 1800's it all made sense. There were also some gaps in years of her 5 children that I never could quite understand. Now it was time to look back into the 1880 census which I was never able to match one to John Colby and Mary Edwards since the info was a little bit off and didn't seem to be accurate.
Alas, the 1880 census in Illinois showed a "J. C. Young" and a "Mary E. Young" living with two infants. I'm sure I have seen this census record before but brushed it off since I had always held true that Robert Cleveland was the oldest child, when in fact he was the oldest surving child. It was a joy to finally place this record with its rightful owners.
Now, the next clue came upon me on this 1880 census where it listed the birthplace of the mother and father of each indivual. For Mary, she listed her father being born in Virginia, and her mother in Kentucky. Now for John Colby, he listed both parents as being born in "Unknown."
All these years we had this idea that John Colby's family was Welsh. Uncle Bill told my father this several times but couldn't quite explain why he knew this information since his father died when he was 9 years old and his mother died a few years later. Since John Colby was a Union soldier and his family was said to have been Southern sympathizers, I always pictured this extreme patriotism with deep roots embedded into the south.
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