By 1860, the Edwards had moved north to Beaver, Beaver County. In 1861, Samuel Edwards moved his family southwest of Beaver to the future site of Greenville. In 1860 or 1861, William Edwards married Scottish emigrant Helen McCulloch Miller (1844-1908).
By 1860, the Edwards had moved north to Beaver, Beaver County. In 1861, Samuel Edwards moved his family southwest of Beaver to the future site of Greenville. In 1860 or 1861, William Edwards married Scottish emigrant Helen McCulloch Miller (1844-1908).
They remained in Greenville for the rest of their lives and Helen bore Edwards twelve children, only four of whom survived to adulthood. Edwards' principal occupation was farming but he also served as constable and postmaster in Beaver for many years. Beginning before the turn of the century Edwards served for fifteen years as a Mormon bishop in Greenville.
They remained in Greenville for the rest of their lives and Helen bore Edwards twelve children, only four of whom survived to adulthood. Edwards' principal occupation was farming but he also served as constable and postmaster in Beaver for many years. From 1897 to 1913, Edwards served as a bishop of Greenville ward in Beaver County.
=== [[Image:William_edwards_1b.jpg|right|200px]]Statement Relative to the Massacre ===
=== [[Image:William_edwards_1b.jpg|right|200px]]Statement Relative to the Massacre ===
Revision as of 18:54, 15 January 2012
William Edwards, his personal and family background, and his involvement in and statements about the Mountain Meadows Massacre
William Edwards was a native of Worchestershire in the West Midlands of England who immigrated to America and pioneered in southern Utah.
Early Years in the West Midlands of England
William Edwards was born in Worchestershire, England, the son of Samuel James Edwards and Ann Robinson. While he was very young, his parents converted to the Mormon Church.
Immigration to America and onto Utah
He immigrated to Utah with his parents in 1851 and he was baptized in 1852.
Moving to Iron County
In 1857, the Edwards family moved to Parowan in Iron County. Neither Edwards nor his father were listed in the Iron County muster rolls for 1857, perhaps because of their recent arrival in southern Utah.
Private William Edwards (not listed in 1857 militia rolls), Cedar City
In September 1857, Edwards was fifteen years old and living in Cedar City. Probably on Thursday the 10th, Edwards was among a detachment of militia reinforcements ordered to the Meadows. He described arriving at the Meadows that day, the council meeting that night that solidified a plan of action, and the massacre on Friday the 11th.
Move to Beaver County
By 1860, the Edwards had moved north to Beaver, Beaver County. In 1861, Samuel Edwards moved his family southwest of Beaver to the future site of Greenville. In 1860 or 1861, William Edwards married Scottish emigrant Helen McCulloch Miller (1844-1908).
They remained in Greenville for the rest of their lives and Helen bore Edwards twelve children, only four of whom survived to adulthood. Edwards' principal occupation was farming but he also served as constable and postmaster in Beaver for many years. From 1897 to 1913, Edwards served as a bishop of Greenville ward in Beaver County.
Edwards was not mentioned in Judge John Cradlebaugh's 1859 arrest warrant. None of the witnesses in the Lee trials identified him as a participant in the massacre or even present at the Meadows. Lee did not mention him in his posthumously-published Mormonism Unveiled, nor was he interviewed regarding or make statements about the massacre during the 1880s or 1890s as some other participants did.
Rather, in 1924, less than a year before his death and more than sixty-five years after the massacre, Edwards made a short affidavit concerning his presence at the massacre as a fifteen-year-old youth. His is probably the last of the militia statements on the massacre.
Yet there is little reason to doubt his statement: he was among several militia teenagers who had been pressed into joining the militia detachment bound for the Mountain Meadows and he witnessed the massacre.
Final Year
Edwards died in 1925, survived by his children and grandchildren.
References
Affidavit of William Edwards; Bagley, Blood of the Prophets, 140, 143, 346; Bigler and Bagley, Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives, 422-23; Merkley, ed., Monuments to Courage, 159; New.familysearch.org; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, 191, 257, 354, fn. 37.
For full bibliographic information see Bibliography.
