Samuel Edwards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania | |
| In office March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1827 | |
| Preceded by | John Sergeant Joseph Hopkinson William Anderson Adam Seybert |
| Succeeded by | James Buchanan Samuel Anderson Charles Miner |
| Constituency | 1st district (1819–1823) 4th district (1823–1827) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1785-03-12)March 12, 1785 |
| Died | November 21, 1850(1850-11-21) (aged 65) |
| Party | Federalist Jacksonian Federalist Jacksonian |
Samuel Edwards (March 12, 1785 – November 21, 1850) was an American politician fromPennsylvania who served as a member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 1st congressional district from 1819 to 1823 and fromPennsylvania's 4th congressional district from 1823 to 1827.
Samuel Edwards was born inChester Township, Pennsylvania. He studied law, was admitted to theDelaware Countybar in 1806 and commenced practice inChester, Pennsylvania.[1]
Edwards was originally aFederalist and was chairman of the 1812 meeting in Chester, Pennsylvania that denounced Congress for declaring war on Great Britain. However once the war was on he supported the U.S. effort. In April 1813, he and Thomas D. Anderson applied to the state and provided their personal funds as bond for military provisions and ammunition to arm a company of Soldiers from Chester during theWar of 1812. The military provisions were sent to theBattle of Frenchtown to help fight the attack by British AdmiralGeorge Cockburn.[2] The Chester troops marched toElkton, Maryland to resist the British Forces.[3]
In the summer of 1814, when Dr.Samuel Anderson raised the Mifflin Guards, Edwards joined as a private and served as company clerk.[1]
While still in active service, Edwards was elected as a member of thePennsylvania House of Representatives from 1814 to 1816.[1]
In 1819, Edwards was elected as aFederalist to theSixteenth andSeventeenth Congresses and served until 1823.[4] Edwards gradually fell away from the Federalist party. He trained under the leadership ofHenry Clay but did not follow him into theWhig Party.[1]
In 1825 Edwards was elected as a Jackson Federalist to theEighteenth Congress from Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district and reelected as aJacksonian to theNineteenth Congress.[5] He served as chairman of theUnited States House Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Navy during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Congresses.
After leaving Congress in 1827, Edwards resumed the practice of law in Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1832, he was elected Chief Burgess of Chester and served as Inspector of Customs in Chester from 1838 to 1842.[1]
He was a director of theDelaware County National Bank and the Delaware Mutual Insurance Company. He also served as counsel for thePhiladelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad.[2]
Edwards daughter married the General and frontiersmanEdward Fitzgerald Beale and his granddaughter married the last Czarist Russian Ambassador to the United States,George Bakhmeteff.[1]
He died in Chester in 1850 and was interred inChester Rural Cemetery.[6]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 1st congressional district 1819–1823 1819–1823 alongside:Joseph Hemphill andJohn Sergeant | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 4th congressional district 1823–1827 1823–1827 alongside:James Buchanan | Succeeded by |
