John Edwards (1786June 26, 1843) was an Anti-Masonic and Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Biography

John Edwards (granduncle of John E. Leonard) was born in

Glen Mills, Pennsylvania Glen Mills is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States about 27 miles west of Philadelphia. T ...

. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1807 and commenced practice in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester i ...

. He was deputy attorney general for

Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the fifth-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the third=smallest in area. Del ...

, in 1811. He moved to West Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1825 and shortly thereafter engaged in the manufacture of iron and later of nails near

. Edwards was elected as an Anti-Masonic candidate to the Twenty-sixth Congress and reelected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress. After his time in congress, he resumed his former manufacturing pursuits, and died on his estate near Glen Mills in 1843. Interment in the Friends' (Hicksite) Cemetery of the Middletown Friends Meetinghouse in

Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania Middletown Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 15,807 at the 2010 census. The Pennsylvania State University has an undergraduate satellite campus called Penn State Brandywine located in the ...

Sources

The Political Graveyard
1786 births 1843 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American politicians Anti-Masonic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Burials in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers People from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub