Edwards Family Ancestors

By far the best document describing my family history was written by Don Sagatun-Edwards when he was 16 years old (his teacher gave him a score of 209 out of 200! ) Read it here.

Some notable family members (click any underlined name for more information).

• The earliest ancestor I have found information on is Richard Haven, who came from England and settled at Lynn, Mass. in 1645.  He lived nine generations before me.  Click here to see his will.

• Elias Haven, Richard Haven's grandson.  One of the Minute Men.  He fell at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775, among the first to die in the Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot militias from America's thirteen colonies.  According to tradition he had been at work harrowing a field on the Chickering farm (still operating at 56 Haven Street) when he left his harrow to answer the call to arms, and "was [later] shot down while standing beside his brother-in-law, Aaron Whiting, at the corner of the Arlington meeting-house and is buried near the spot."

• Zebulon Butler, forefather of John Butler Reynolds, my mother's grandfather, was a colonel under General George Washington.  

• John Butler Reynolds was married to Emily Dane.  One of her forefathers was a soldier in the Battle of Saratoga, which took place in 1777, during the second year of the American Revolution.  The battle was a decisive victory for the Continental Army and a turning point in the Revolutionary War.

• Philo Haven, great-great grandson to Elias Haven.  He was the first member of our family to visit Gold Lake.  In 1851 he struck it rich mining for gold nearby.  He was a Founding Father of Downeyville, and there is a plaque with his name on the main street.

• Sam Dyer, my namesake.  The husband of my mother's mother, he died of tuberculosis shortly after she was born.

• Don Edwards, member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 32 years, and father of Len, Sam, and Bruce Edwards.  He was named after his grandfather, William Donlon, who signed up for the Civil War on the Confederate side (!), at the age of 14. 

• Mary Amanda Haven, my great grandmother, went to Hawaii in 1873 at the age of 20 to teach at Punahou School in Honolulu.  Today it is ranked the Greenest School in America.  Click here to see a letter she wrote to her Aunt in 1865.

• William White.  I had had three relatives who were passengers on the Mayflower: William White, Mrs. Susanna White, and Resolved White.  William White (b: 1592 in England, d: February 21, 1621 Plymouth County, New England Colony, age at d: 29 est.) was an 11th generation ancestor.

• Francis Bellamy, five generations before me, in 1892 wrote the Pledge of Allegiance at the request of President Benjamin Harrison, to mark the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.  President Harrison thought this anniversary needed a flag-raising ceremony at every schoolhouse in America.  A salute to the flag was needed.  This salute was written by Bellamy.