Teaching History While Walking in My Ancestors’ Footsteps

October 14, 2009 by Ben Edwards · Leave a Comment 

captbenedwardsFor the past six years, I’ve had the opportunity to teach Colonial American history to grade school students while walking in the footsteps of my early Boston ancestors. During my field trips of Historic Boston, students walk the same streets my Edwards ancestors once strode with well known Bostonians like John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. As a tour guide and a teacher, I find this personal connection to history — and the stories I’m able to convey about it — to be a wonderful way to engage students. What makes it even more interesting for them is that these stories continue well after the tour is over. They come to life in my children’s book One April in Boston, and every student participating in a Boston field trip or any of my school programs receives the downloadable MP3 audio version for free.

Through the tour and the book, students learn that my Edwards ancestors arrived in Boston around 1700. My sixth great grandfather Captain Benjamin Edwards (pictured in this post) was 19 years old and living in the North End of Boston in 1706 – the same year Benjamin Franklin was born on Milk Street! That year he was married by Cotton Mather according to an entry in the 1708 Edwards Family Bible which still exists today. Benjamin Edwards was a sea captain and I discovered records of his many voyages including a battle with pirates in the Caribbean in 1722. His son Dolling Edwards, my fifth great grandfather, was a mastmaker at a shipyard in the North End and his son Benjamin was a cooper.

My fourth great grandfather, cooper Benjamin Edwards was an orphan by the time he was eight. Ben lived with his Aunt Sarah and his Uncle Alexander Edwards, a cabinetmaker and member of the Sons of Liberty. The family lived a few blocks down the street from the Old North Church and Ben was 10 when the signal lanterns were shown from its steeple and Paul Revere made his Midnight Ride. Toward the end of the Revolution, Ben’s older sister Sally Edwards married silversmith Paul Revere Jr., firstborn son of the famous patriot.

Ben’s son Joseph Edwards, my third great grandfather, was born in 1799. He was my last Edwards ancestor to live in Boston his entire life. Joseph was a paver who set granite paving stones in the city streets. He was also an innkeeper. Joseph lived in the West End not far from Boston Common, where most days you can spot me surrounded by enthusiastic schoolchildren and teachers heading off on my one-of-a-kind walking tour of Historic Boston.

The Colonial Edwards Family Tree (PDF)

Teachers: If you are interested in integrating family stories or genealogy into your history curriculum, the following genealogy resources will prove very helpful.

The Edwards Family Home Site in Boston’s North End

October 14, 2009

The Edwards Family property was located on Back Street (now Salem Street) in the North End of Boston. It was two blocks from Paul Revere’s home in North Square and three blocks from Christ Church (Old North Church) on Salem Street. Before purchasing the Back Street property, my sixth great grandfather Captain Benjamin Edwards (1685-1751) lived in the North End in two other locations – Hull Street in 1713, and the corner of Prince and Salem streets in 1717. In 1719, Captain Edwards purchased property from Abigail Blaque that bounded southeasterly on Back Street (95 1/2 ft.) and northwesterly on the Mill Pond. The property included houses, outhouses, buildings, barns, stables and gardens. Captain Edwards lived here in a brick home and this is where his seven children, including my fifth great grandfather Dolling Edwards, were born. Today, a restaurant at 104 Salem Street called L’Osteria stands on the site of the old Edwards Family property.

In 1738, Captain Edwards purchased additional property on Back Street, next to the piece he already owned, from blacksmith Solomon Townsend. It measured 31 1/2 ft. at the front and 200 ft. from front to rear and contained land and buildings. A private dwelling stands on this site today. After Captain Edwards’ death in 1751, this property was passed on to his oldest son Benjamin. The Captain’s remaining real estate was divided among his five other living children. His sons John and Robert received the front part of his home, while Captain Edwards’ daughter Bathsheba was given the back part. Captain Edwards’ son Alexander was given a brick home, buildings and land next to his siblings. This property had 50 ft. of frontage on Back Street. The Captain also owned two small dwellings: one on Ship Street and one in White Bread Alley. These were given to his youngest son, Dolling. Alexander Edwards would eventually come to possess all of the family property on Back Street. After his death in 1798, it was passed on to his wife Sarah and when she died it went to Alexander’s dear friend Jedediah Lincoln.

While researching the location of the family home for my book One April in Boston back in 2000, I mistakenly placed the Edwards property further south on Back Street. I realized this error just within the past year after locating Clough’s Atlases of Property Owners of Boston in 1798 in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society. These atlases clearly show the precise location of the two pieces of property owned by Sarah Edwards in 1798. View the links below to get a better feel for where the family property was located.

The Edwards Family Property on a 1775 Boston Map (PDF)

Walking Tour Route Passes the Edwards Family Home Site (PDF)

Sarah Edwards’ Property on Clough’s Atlases in 1798

Filed under: Audio, Primary Sources, Tours
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