The Edwards Family of Otisfield

The Edwards family of Otisfield Maine (which was part of Cumberland County until 1978, when it was annexed to Oxford County) appears to have come initially from Wales around 1700, with the migration of John Edwards, Sr. to Haverhill, Massachusetts.  His son, John, Jr., had many children in Haverhill.  Two of them, Jonathan and William, migrated to Otisfield in the early 1800s and were among this town's earliest settlers.

DESCENDANTS OF JONATHAN EDWARDS

Jonathan Edwards (1747-1837) and his wife, Hannah Heath, migrated to New Hampshire in the 1770s and had their four children, including John "White Eye" Edwards, Sally Edwards-Morse, Nathaniel Edwards, and Stevens Edwards (more on him below).  This family migrated to Otisfield sometime prior to 1810.

Stevens Edwards (1773-1855) was born in Sandoun, New Hampshire.  He married Deliverance Hamblin of Gorham, Maine, and had eight children in Otisfield, including Stevens Edwards, Jr., who was nicknamed "Deacon Ronko".

Steven "Deacon Ronko" Edwards (1811-1890) married Abigail Hamblin (potentially his second cousin).  They had three sons in Otisfield (Elijah, William and Francis).  William moved to Mechanic Falls, but Elijah and Francis moved on to Raymond.

Elijah Hamblen Edwards (1844-1928), great grandson to Jonathan, married Eliza Jane Cobb of Poland Maine, and had five children who they raised in Raymond.  Elijah's grandsons, Charlie Bickford and Elwin Plummer, both married my aunt, Laura Matilda Clarke of Scarborough, Maine, whose maternal grandfather was John Henry Temm of Scarborough.

DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM EDWARDS

William Edwards (1755-1845) fought in the Revolution in Nathaniel Gage's Company, Colonel Garrish's Regiment of Guards.  He married Lydia Baker in Haverhill, Mass, and had ten children.  Their son, Ephraim Edwards (1797-1877), had two sons, Jonas and Dennis.  Dennis (1832-1898) married Sadie Temm, who was sister to John Henry Temm (mentioned above).  Dennis died of a head wound stemming from an accident (a Brunswick train bound for Portland collided with his horse carriage at "Curtis Corner" in Freeport).