James T. Edwards

James Thomas Edwards (January 6, 1838 – August 20, 1914) was an American educator, Methodist minister, and politician.

Life

James was born on January 6, 1838 in Barnegat, Ocean County, New Jersey. He was the son of Rev. Job Edwards (1802-1871) and his second wife Susannah Haywood (1808-1895).[1]

James attended Pennington Seminary (today The Pennington School) and graduated from Wesleyan University in 1860. He taught Natural Science for a year at the Amenia Seminary, New York, after which he started teaching at the East Greenwich Seminary (later known as the East Greenwich Academy) in Rhode Island. He intended to study law under William L. Dayton, but these plans were cut short after Dayton was sent to France as its new ambassador.[2]

In 1862 James married Emma Atwood Baker (1838-1921). Their children were Grace Ella Baker (1864-1921), Laura Alice Lyman (1868-1944), and Florence Emily Sumwalt (1876-1959)[1].

He enlisted in the 11th Regiment Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry to fight in the Civil War. He enlisted as a private, but was immediately given a commission by Governor William Sprague as second lieutenant. He was quickly elected first lieutenant of a company of YMCA volunteers. He was lated made adjutant of a parole camp outside of Alexandria.[2]

When he left the army in 1864, James returned to the East Greenwich Academy, where he was elected principal. He was also elected to the Rhode Island Senate, where he served from 1865 to 1869. While in the Senate, he helped to get the Fifteenth Amendment and a prohibition bill passed in the Senate, although both failed in the Assembly. In 1868, John was a Presidential Elector for Ulysses S. Grant[2], and was a Rhode Island Delegate for the 1866 National Union Convention[3].

In 1870, James left Rhode Island for the Chamberlain Institute in Randolph,Cattaraugus County, New York. He served as principal of the Institute for the next 22 years, resigning in 1892. He also received a Degree of Divinity from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania in 1876, and in 1890 was made a Doctor of Laws[4].

In 1891, the Republican James was nominated for the New York State Senate's 32nd District (Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties) by the Democratic Party, the People's Party, and an Independent Republican Party. He won the election over Commodore P. Vedder and served in the State Senate in 1892[5] and 1893[6]. After he left the State Senate, he served as principal of McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland from 1893 to 1898.[7]

James was a Methodist minister, and was an elected delegate to the 1884 and 1892 General Conferences of the M. E. Church, a delegate to the 1884 Methodist centennial, and a member of the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions.[7]

James died on August 20, 1914 in his family home in Randolph[8]. He was buried in Randolph Cemetery[9].

gollark: Going around actually providing people the tools to critically think and evaluate things is much better than "HAHAHAHA you got caught up in a self-reinforcing superstructure of bad opinions, JAIL!".
gollark: > Dunning-Kruger effect. The best way to fix these conspiracies is to properly educate people on these topics while they’re youngyes. better education.
gollark: Maybe it should be extended to "freedom of communication", with some extra bits like "no intentionally harmful-to-informational-systems stuff", because computers.
gollark: Hypothetically speaking, but it's good to get ahead of it.
gollark: Not cognitohazards.

References
  1. Edwards, James T. (James Thomas) (1903). The Edwards family. The Library of Congress. Randolph, N.Y. : Randolph Pub. Co. pp. 7–8.
  2. Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash. History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. pp. 211–213.
  3. Edwards, James T. (James Thomas) (1903). The Edwards family. The Library of Congress. Randolph, N.Y. : Randolph Pub. Co. p. 23.
  4. Adams, William (1893). Historical Gazetteer and Biographical Memorial of Cattaraugus County, N.Y. Lyman, Horton. pp. 1051–1053.
  5. The New York Red Book. Williams Press. 1892. pp. 83–84.
  6. The New York Red Book. Williams Press. 1893. pp. 87–88.
  7. Edwards, James T. (James Thomas) (1903). The Edwards family. The Library of Congress. Randolph, N.Y. : Randolph Pub. Co. p. 23.
  8. "Cattaraugus Republican. (Little Valley, N.Y.) 1877-19??, August 27, 1914, Image 6" (1914/08/27). 1914-08-27: 6. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. "James Thomas Edwards (1838-1914) - Find A Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
New York State Senate
Preceded by
Commodore P. Vedder		 New York State Senate
32nd District
1892–1893		 Succeeded by
Frank W. Higgins
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