A William Edwards is found in Surry County in 1624. His grandson Thomas, who died in 1703, had three sons. One of these married into the family of Richard Vick of Southampton County , and his 1758 will mentions three grandchildren: Alice, Jesse, and Thomas Edwards.
In the 1781 Edgecombe, North Carolina will of a Thomas Edwards , possibly the one above, he leaves son Jordan "a hunting gun and brandy which he had of Joseph Washington as his substitute in the service" and son Newitt " a long gun, brandy, and £ 200 in the hands of Thomas Taylor, being what he was to receive from him as his substitute in the service" This will also mentions a wife Ann, son Benjamin, and daughters Mary, Ann, Lucy, and Elizabeth.
The will of John Edwards , of Brunswick County, was probated in 1798. A witness was Thomas Saunders, who is also a witness for Jesse (below) in 1810. John's wife's name is not given, but his son was Jesse and his daughters were Ruth (Wallace) and another who was the wife of Thomas Parish.
The son Jesse Edwards, Sr . of Brunswick County, wrote his will in 1800. Executors were sons Burwell and Jesse. Witnesses included Thomas Saunders. Securities for bond are Herbert Edwards (possibly his grandson) and John Saunders. He married Bromley Rawlings in 1787. Their children were Burwell, Jesse, and John.
The son Jesse Edwards, who died in 1810, also in Brunswick County, had a wife named Tabitha and children Thomas, Jordan, Herbert, Tabitha, Dianna, and Patsy.
Whether our Jordan Edwards (?-1832) was the son of Thomas Edwards of Edgecombe, County, North Carolina, or, more likely, the son of Jesse Edwards of Brunswick County, Virginia, is not known for a certainty. He may also have married a Nancy Price before he married Mary "Polly" Chappell Weathers . He and his wife Polly lived in Sussex County. The children of the (second?) marriage were Elizabeth, Thomas, Edmund, Martha, Mary A. E., Caroline, Elijah Ellis, and William.
The daughter Elizabeth Edwards
married, on September 7, 1824, Henry Bishop
, also of Sussex County.