My Edwards ancestors arrived in Boston over 300 years ago. The first four generations included: Captain Benjamin Edwards, a sea captain and merchant; Dolling Edwards, a mastmaker; Benjamin Edwards, a cooper; and Joseph B. Edwards, a paver. Their fascinating stories tell of a battle with pirates in the Caribbean in 1722, a connection to the Sons of Liberty, a relationship to Paul Revere, and a rare opportunity to see President George Washington when he visited Boston in 1789. The tale begins after two family members brave a six week journey across the Atlantic to start a new life in America.

Captain Edwards

Benjamin Edwards and his mother Sarah sailed from England and arrived in the port of Boston in the early 1700s. There is no record of their arrival date but a painting and desk that accompanied them on their journey still survive today. On December 10, 1706, at the age of 20, Benjamin Edwards was married to Hanah Harrod by Doctor Cotton Mather in Boston. He became a mariner and eventually a sea captain. One of Benjamin's earliest voyages occurred in 1710 aboard the sloop Adventure. Newspaper accounts indicate that he returned to the port of Boston from Suriname in South America in that year aboard that vessel. As a sea captain, Benjamin Edwards lived a life full of adventure. Between the years 1711 and 1722, aboard the Sarah and the Greyhound, Captain Edwards sailed to Lisbon, Portugal; London, England; Leghorn, Italy; Bay of Campeche, Mexico; and many islands and ports in the Caribbean.

Captain Edwards' chosen career, though exciting, also involved great risk. On January 10, 1722, he was aboard the Greyhound, and one day out from the coast of Honduras with a cargo of logwood, when the lookout spotted a ship he could not identify. As the mysterious vessel drew closer, it ran up a black flag having a skeleton on it and fired a gun as a signal for the Greyhound to halt and be boarded. Captain Edwards ordered "all hands on deck" and prepared to defend his ship. The pirate ship gave the Greyhound a broadside of eight guns which Captain Edwards bravely returned. The battle raged at long distance for an hour. The stubborn Captain eventually realized that he was out-gunned by a heavily-manned vessel. Fearing what too strong a resistance might mean for his crew, Captain Edwards reluctantly ordered his ensign struck and decided to take his chances with the pirates face to face.

Two boatloads of armed men came aboard the Greyhound to rifle it for any valuables. The Captain soon learned that he had been battling the 250 ton Happy Delivery with a crew of 90 men commanded by the ruthless pirate George Lowther. The Greyhound, like most New England logwood vessels, had limited opportunity for trade, and the pirates found little of value as they searched the ship. Their resulting anger was taken out on Captain Edwards and his crew. Two mariners were tied up to the mainmast and lashed. Other members of the crew were beaten and cut in a cruel manner. All were brought aboard the pirate ship and the Greyhound was set on fire. Five of her mariners were forced to join the pirate crew while Captain Edwards, the remainder of his men, and other captors were put on another logwood vessel and allowed to make their way back to Boston. Their ordeal was mentioned in the May 7, 1722 issue of the Boston News-Letter, and later in two books.

During his maritime career, Captain Edwards was away from his wife Hanah for long periods of time. One journey in 1712 lasted 9 months and others may have taken over a year. The couple did have three children who all died in infancy. Hanah died on September 24, 1728. Captain Edwards made note of her passing in the family record section of his 1708 Bible that still exists today. As time passed, he would make additional entries in that Bible including his marriage to Bathsheba Evans on May 14, 1730, and the births of their seven children from 1731-1738. These children were: Benjamin, Robert, Alexander, John, Bathsheba, Dolling (my ancestor) and Hanah. Captain Edwards' second wife Bathsheba died at age 37 in 1738. At the age of 52, he was left to care for their seven children, the oldest being seven years, four months.

The Edwards family lived on Back Street in the north part of town. Their home was just a block from the New Brick Church, a parish Captain Edwards helped establish in 1719. According to church records, the Edwards family owned pew # 28. The New Brick's rooster weather vane was a Boston landmark. (It survives today and can be seen atop the First Church in Cambridge.) Members of the New Brick congregation came to know Captain Edwards as a sea commander, merchant and public servant. For the last six years of his life, he served the community as Collector of Taxes. On March 7, 1749, records indicate that he collected taxes from Thomas Hancock at his mansion on Beacon Hill. Living with Thomas at the time was his adopted nephew John Hancock. Perhaps 12-year-old John was practicing his penmanship that day. His famous signature would appear many years later on the Declaration of Independence.

A painting of Captain Edwards that hung in his Back Street home still exists today. He died in 1751 at the age of 66, and was buried in Edwards Tomb #5 at Copp's Hill Burying Ground in the north part of Boston. Guardians were selected for the Captain's children. His youngest son, 14-year-old Dolling, was raised by Captain Nathaniel Greenwood. He became a mastmaker at Captain Greenwood's Mast-Yard. Dolling's brother, 17-year-old Alexander, was raised by Thomas Sherburne who taught him the cabinetmaking trade. Dolling and his wife Rebecca had four children: Sally, Benjamin (my ancestor), Rebecca and Alexander who became orphans upon his death in 1773. Dolling's brother, Alexander, and his wife Sarah helped raise these orphans. They lived on Back Street in a home passed down by Captain Edwards. Alexander Edwards' cabinetmaking shop stood at the back of this property. When Alexander wasn't caring for his brother's children and working at his shop, he was busy expressing his patriotic views as a member of the Sons of Liberty.

The Sons of Liberty were formed to protest the Stamp Act. On August 14, 1765, they hung an effigy of the stamp master from a majestic elm tree that stood near Boston Common. The elm became Boston's "Liberty Tree." Because the Sons of Liberty was a secret organization, few lists of its members survive. One such list provides the names of over 300 members who "dined at Liberty Tree, Dorchester, August 14, 1769." The names include: Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and a 35-year-old cabinetmaker named Alexander Edwards. The festivities began that day at Liberty Tree in Boston where the Sons drank 14 toasts to celebrate the 4th anniversary of their Stamp Act protest. The members then rode to Robinson's Tavern in Dorchester to partake in a banquet that was later described in great detail in the diary of John Adams and the August 21, 1769 issue of the Boston Gazette.

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