Surname Saturday~Edgeworth

 
The Edgeworth surname has been on record in both Chesterfield County, SC and Anson County, North Carolina since the late 1700’s. The first Edgewoth was shipwreck off North Carolina and rescued by Moses Knight.

Richard Lovell Edgewoth was born 29 May 1764 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. He was the son of Richard Lovell Edgeworth and Anna Maria Elers. He married Elizabeth Knight in North Carolina. He died on 19 August 1796 at age 32 in Anson County, North Carolina. His WILL is on file in Anson County Will Book “A”, page 49.

Abstract of will:
Page 49: RICHARD EDGEWORTH – Cheraw , S. C. Nov. 3, 1792. Jan. 1797. Wife: Elizabeth Sons: Sneed and Lovell. My father Richard Lovell Edgeworth of Lansford, Ireland, and Claudius Pegues. John Boone and John Hardwick of Georgetown. Witnesses: Smith Thompson , Thomas Edgeworth and James Pearson.

Upon the death of Richard Edgeworth above; the following notice appeared in several early editions of local newspapers in the area. This particular one is from The Charleston Courier, 14 November 1806, page 4.



Transcription of Notice:

Notice

If any of the family of the late RICHARD EDGEWORT, of Ashton, on the Great Pedee river, S. Carolina, are alive, and will apply to Richard Lovel Edgeworth, Esq. of Edgeworthtown, Ireland, or to Marcus Heyland, No. 135, Market-street, Baltimore, they will here something to their advantage.
Sept. 27

Mary Medley in her “History of Anson County” devoted an entire chapter to Richard Lovell and his involvement and establishment of the town of Sneedborough, North Carolina.

From the North Carolina Historical Highway Marker Program:¹
“In 1795 a town called Sneedsborough was founded in Anson County on the land of Richard Edgeworth. Sneedsborough was developed as an inland port town, to be connected to the Pee Dee River by a series of canals. The town expanded after its conception and became a small merchant center close to the North Carolina -South Carolina border. Archibald D. Murphey championed the development of Sneedsborough as a port for interior North Carolina, based in part on his personal business investments. The canals proved impossible to build though, stalling the development and growth of industry and the town itself. By the Civil War the town had been abandoned and its remnants were destroyed by Union troops.
     Anson County was formed in 1749 from Bladen County in order to address population growth and reduce distances for the payment of taxes. It was named for Lord George Anson, an English navigator who had worked along the Carolina coast between 1724 and 1735. Anson County was named to honor his bravery, service, and commitment to the Carolina colony.
     Richard Edgeworth, brother of acclaimed British novelist Maria Edgeworth. Edgeworth, arrived in Anson County after escaping England following the death of his opponent in a duel and then getting shipwrecked off the North Carolina coast near Cape Fear. Edgeworth’s rescuer, Moses Knight, brought him back to Anson County, where Edgeworth became involved in land speculation and soon helped to found Sneedsborough, which was named for his stepmother Honora Sneyd.
     Sneedsborough, incorporated in 1795, thrived initially, with an academy founded in 1800. The costs of canal construction proved impossibly high, however, and the canals leading to Sneedsborough never developed. The failure eventually led to the collapse of the town. Eventually the town essentially disappeared, and the troops engaged in Sherman’s March destroyed it completely in the latter stages of the Civil War. The cemetery is all that remains today of the once thriving town”.

The Edgeworth surname is still a viable surname within Chesterfield County South Carolina.

On 17 March 1954, “The State”, a Columbia, South Carolina newspaper contained a picture of Lieut. Commander Richard Lovell Edgeworth of Pageland, Chesterfield County, South Carolina. The photo caption read:
Lieut. Commander Richard Lovell Edgeworth, left is shown here being congratulated as he takes over his new assignment as commanding officer of the Columbia Naval Reserve Training Center at 513 Pickens Street. He succeeds Lieut. Commander L. Dial Corder, right, who has returned to inactive duty and is associated in business in Columbia. Lieut. Commander Edgeworth, who is a native of Pageland, came here from duty aboard the U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Navy Photo by Chief Yeoman W. L. Cole).
 
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[1] http://ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?MarkerId=K-7