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WHO WAS WD. EDEY? BY J.H. Edey, AGS #1300
When I started searching my family background in the summer of 1980 all I
knew about the Edey family was the fact that my grandfather had come from
Carleton County, Ontario, and settled in Manitoba in the 1880's. On our
way to Eastern Canada my wife, Iris, and I visited aunts and uncles in
Manitoba and were given an address of their cousin in Carleton Place,
Ontario. When we visited this cousin later we found that much research
had been done by various members of the Edey family and others in the
Ottawa area. We were able to get the books: "What Men They Were!" by S.
Wyman MacKechnie and "The Wrights" by Patrick M.O. Evans. We learned that
my great great grandfather, Moses Edey, had come from Randolph, Vermont,
in 1805 and had settled in Aylmer, Quebec, about 8 miles upriver from
Hull. His widowed mother, his sister Jane, and his brother Samuel
followed the next year. This information gave us a wonderful start and I
began to do further research.
Through correspondence with relatives in Ontario who had visited Vermont
we learned that the births of the three Edeys mentioned were registered in
the Vital Records of Vermont as follows:
Jane Edey born in Randolph, June 11, 1780 Moses Edey born in Newbury,
September 18, 1781 Samuel Edey born in Randolph, May 18, 1786
The name of the father was given as Wd. Edey.
The problem now was to find who was Wd. Edey. What kind of a man was he
who had a child in Randolph one year, another in Newbury the next year and
a third in Randolph five years later? Why all the moving around? What did
Wd. stand for? The Ontario cousins suggested that Wd. could be an
abbreviation for Willard. I searched the microfiche at the LDS
Genealogical Library in Edmonton and sure enough, there were the three
names with birth dates and places as above and the father's name - WD
EDEY. I found several Willard Eddys on the microfiche and in the 1790
Census of the United States. There was also a Ward Eddey but none of them
seemed to be right.
In June, 1983, I sent to the LDS Genealogical Department in Salt Lake City
for photocopies of the three records. On all three copies the space for
Full Name of Father was written in as Wd. Edey. Spaces for Maiden Name of
Mother, Mother's Birthplace, Mother's Residence, Father's Birthplace, and
Father's Occupation had been left blank. Each of the photoduplicates had
a separate statement as follows: "Town of Randolph. I hereby certify that
the facts set forth on the reverse side of this card are matters of record
in this office." with the signature "E.F. Briggs, Town Clerk". No dates
for this signature were given. This indicated that E.F. Briggs had copied
from another source.
We were in Vermont in September, 1983. In the Vital Records Office in
Montpelier I found the cards and confirmed that the photocopies were exact
duplicates. In the Vermont Historical Library I searched for two days for
some record of a Wd. Edey without success but I did learn some history of
Randolph. There had been an Indian raid on Randolph on October 16, 1780.
One man was killed and the other men present were taken captive to Canada
where they were kept for two years. Some men escaped because they
happened to be absent at the time. Among these was a Mr. Eddy. The women
and children were left homeless and had to find shelter in other towns.
This could account for the fact that Moses Edey was born in Newbury. Since
he was born eleven months after the raid his father was not one of the
captives. The settlers of Randolph had applied for the incorporation of
the town a few months before the raid and one of the signatures on the
application is Thomas Eddy. However, because of the raid and the absence
of the settlers, incorporation was not completed and a council was not
elected until 1783.
I also discovered the E.F. Briggs had been Town Clerk of Randolph from
1910 to 1921. Evidently he had completed the cards during this period.
Then I found in the Randolph Town Office what I believe is the source
which E.F. Briggs had used. It is "Vol. A. of Births, Deaths, Marriages
1766 - 1868 for the Town of Randolph" - The Index listed the name "Edey -
Widdow" and referred to page 74. I had page 74 duplicated and the entries
are shown here. (J.H. Edey has shown copies of this information in his
article.)
When I asked a clerk in the Randolph Town Office what she thought Wd.
stood for she immediately said "Widow". I believe she is right and I am
continuing my research on that assumption. If this assumption is correct,
then E.F. Briggs (or someone in his office) made an error when he filled
in the Full Name of Father as Wd. Edey and any records copied from these
cards are in error.
We did not have time to continue our research in Vermont. I think that
the three entries were all made at the same time. Perhaps minutes of
Randolph Town Council would have some information about the time the
records were started. Evidently they were recorded before the Edey family
moved to Canada in 1805-6.
The question "Who Was Wd. Edey?" remains unanswered at present. I am
writing this article with the idea that someone else may find any record
of the first name or maiden name of the Widow Edey who came to Canada with
her three children. The book Vermont's First Settlers" by Jay M.Holbrook
(p. 31) shows a Thomas Eddy had a Land grant in Randolph on June 29, 1781.
I could find no record of the family in the 1790 Census of Randolph or
Vermont.
"The Vermont Historical Gazetter Volume 2" by Hemenway in considering who
was the first child born in Randolph suggests this may have been "Jane
Eddy, daughter of a certain widow Eddy who moved into town a short time
before the proprietors voted to give the first woman that settled in
Middlesex, 100 acres of land. The records show Mrs. Eddy had one child
previously, and one after, born elsewhere. It does not appear she
received the 100 acres." (p. 1042). This write quotes from older
manuscripts.
Ruth Story (Devereux) Eddy in her article "The Eddy Pioneers and Settlers
in Vermont" in The Eddy Family Association Bulletin Vol. VII, No. I, date
October 29, 1927, writes, "In 1780 in Randolph there was a widow Edey with
two sons, Moses and Samuel, and a daughter, Jane. She moved there just
before the proprietors voted to give the first woman who settled in
Middlesex Co. 100 acres of land. I could not find whether she ever
received the land. The children bear regular Eddy names. They must
belong somewhere on the Eddy tree, probably on the Obadiah of Middleboro
branch, but as yet I cannot connect them." The same author wrote a book
"The Eddy Family in America" which was published in 1930. On page 169 she
gives the name of Jane, Moses, and Samuel Edey and suggests their father
may have been Othniel Eddy, the son of Joel Eddy of Ashford, Connecticut.
Jonathon Carpenter lists the residents of Randolph near the end of his
diary. He usually gives both the first and last names but he has written
one surname without a first name. It appears that he wrote "Edy" and then
changed the "y" to a 'd' or and 'e' and added a 'y' at the end. This name
could be "Eddy", "Edey" or "Edgy". This list seems to have been completed
about 1783.
When Ontario relatives were in Vermont in September they found records of
the two brothers in the Probate Records. I obtained Microfilm No. 6888
Probate Records of the District of Randolph 1792 - 1850 from the LDS
Genealogical Department in Salt Lake City and found the following
information on pages 74 and 79:
Samuel Edey, A Minor -- At a Probate court holden at Williamstown in for
the District of Randolph in the first Day of December Anno Domini 1802
Jonathon Frist Esq. Judge -- Samuel Edey a Minor residing in Randolph in
said District personally appeared and made choice of John Eavens of said
Randolph to be his lawfull guardian. At the said Court the said John
appeared & accepted of said trust of Guardian to said Minor who together
with William Ramzey of said Randolph became bound in the sum of five
hundred dollars as surety for the faithfull discharge of said Trust --
whereupon a Letter of Guardianship issued to the said John Eavens. Attest
Jonathon Frist Judge of Probate.
Moses Edey, A Minor -- At a Court of Probate holden at Randolph in and for
the District of Randolph on the 21st day of March Anno Domini 1798. --
Personally appeared Moses Eddy a minor residing in Randolph & made choice
of Edward Evans of said Randolph for his lawful guardian. -- Likewise
appeared said Edward Evans and with Joseph Carpenter of said Randolph
became bound in the sum of four hundred Dollars as security for his
faithgul discharge of said trust -- whereupon a Letter of Guardianship was
granted to said edward Evan. Attest David Storrs Register.
I wonder if there is any significance to the fact that these choices of
guardians were made almost five years apart and at times when the brothers
were about seventeen and a half years old.
I hope others will find this information useful for further research. Here
are my suggestions for continuing research. Somewhere in the Ottawa area
there should be some information about the Widow Edey, the mother of Jane,
Moses and Samuel. This could be in a family Bible, other family papers,
church records, cemetery records, or other sources. In Vermont, there may
be clues in the Randolph Town Council minutes or other town records,
church records, land records or cemetery records. I spent an hour with
Wes and Miriam Herwig, curators of the Randolph Historical Society, and
they suggested extensive records in the Baker Library at Dartmouth College
in Hanover, New Hampshire, could be helpful. If they can be found, the
manuscripts quoted by Hemenway in the Vermont Historical Gazeteer may give
some leads. If the parents of the three Edeys who came to Canada with
their mother in 1805-6 can be identified, it may be possible to trace
their ancestry back for another two or three centuries.
Received from J.H. Edey (the following)
Information on the EDEY Family.
.......There is a gravestone in Bellevue Cemetery near Hull, Quebec, which
has the inscription "In Memory of Mary, Wife of Luther Edey, died 23 Nov.
1842, aged 86 years." I believe that this Mary could only be the mother
of the three Edeys who came to Hull from Randolph in 1805-6.
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