Display Patriot - P-153478 - William Franklin EDWARDS

William Franklin EDWARDS

SAR Patriot #: P-153478

The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
 

State of Service: NC      Qualifying Service: Private / Patriotic Service
DAR #: A036811

Birth: 1757 / Orange / NC
Death: 23 Apr 1837 / Robertson / TN

Qualifying Service Description:
  1. 1778, served in the company of Captain Abraham Allen
  2. 1778, serving as a substitute Private in the company of Captain Tavender Mack, commanded by Colonel Archibald Lytle
  3. 1779, served as a Minuteman in the companies of Captains William Douglas and William James, commanded by Colonel Roger Griffis
  4. 1781, served in the company of Captain William Jones, commanded by Colonel Wade
  5. 1781, he was a prisoner and later escaped from the British

Additional References:
  1. Rev War Pension file: S/R3263
  2. Patriot Grave & Biography Report by Darrell Ray Over, M.D

Spouse: Rebecca Ann Brewer
Children: William/Billy; Oliver Cromwell; John; Alsey Ann; Spencer; Edward;
Members Who Share This Ancestor
Date Approved Society ACN SAR Member Info Lineage via Child View Application Detail
1997-03-12 OH 202107 Marvin Dale Edwards Sr (147886) William/Billy   
2022-12-16 AR 103609 Darrell Ray Over M.D. (199974) Alsey/Alcey/Aley   
Burial:
UNKNOWN (Unindexed)
Location:
Robertson / TN
Find A Grave Cemetery #:
n/a
Grave Plot #:
Grave GPS Coordinates:
n/a
Find A Grave Memorial #:
57773295
Marker Type:

SAR Grave Dedication Date:

Comments:

Find-a-Grave memorial lists grave location as unknown.



Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:


Author: Dr. Darrell Ray Over

William Edwards was born in 1757 in Orange County, North Carolina. 

According to his pension application, he served four tours of duty during the Revolutionary War. In his deposition, he states his first tour of duty was for three months, from May to August 1778, in Captain Abraham Allen's company. His second tour was re-enlisting for three months beginning in September 1778, serving as a substitute Private in Captain Tavender Mack's Company of Colonel Archibald Lytle's North Carolina Regiment. He describes involvement in frequent skirmishes with the Tories, including the battle at Brush Creek. 

He re-enlisted in January 1779 for a one-year tour of duty as a Minuteman under Captain William Douglas and William James in Colonel Roger Griffis' North Carolina Regiment. His last tour of duty was for three months in Captain William Jones’s Company in Colonel Wade's North Carolina Regiment. According to his deposition, he received a discharge from service on 27 September 1781, and he returned home to Chatham County, North Carolina. He reported that a few days after returning home that a group of Tories surrounded his house, and he was a prisoner. He was taken to Hillsborough, North Carolina, and turned over to the British. He escaped after a few days of confinement and hid until the British left and returned home.

He married Rebecca Brewer on 25 July 1775 in Chatham County, North Carolina, and they had the following known children:

  • Oliver Cromwell was born in 1776.
  • John was born in 1778.
  • Alsey Ann was born in 1779.
  • Spencer was born in 1780.
  • William was born in 1782.
  • Anna was born in 1785.
  • Edward was born in 1789.

William Edwards is enumerated on the 1790 census as the head of a household of eight persons. In the 1800 and 1810 censuses, he resided in Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolina, but in the 1820 and 1830 censuses, he was found in Springfield, Robertson County, Tennessee. At age 75 years, he applied in August 1832 while a resident of Robertson County, Tennessee, to receive a pension for his Revolutionary War which was granted.  

The Patriot died in Robertson County, Tennessee, on 23 April 1837. After his death, his wife Rebecca applied for a pension based on his war service, which was denied as she was not a widow when the law granting a widow's pension was passed.


Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!

Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.

Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:

Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space

1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.


© 2025 - National Society of the American Revolution (NSSAR)