The “52 Cousins” series of biographical sketches are Artificial Intelligence (AI) compiled narratives of selected individuals from my Genealogical database. The selected AI will used the RootsMagic Individual Summary from my Genealogical Software, Roots Magic. All genealogical data is my research material acquired over the past 46 years of research. Today's Biography of John Eddins (1851-1925) was compiled with the assistance of Claude Sonnett 4 and is entitled:
"Across the State Line: The Life of John Eddins in Two Carolinas"
Early Life and Family Background
John Eddins was born on May 21, 1851, in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, to James Ellis Eddins Sr. and Diana "Ann" Boan. He grew up in a large family during the turbulent years leading up to and following the Civil War. His father James (1828-1894) was a farmer who worked the land in the Chesterfield area, while his mother Ann (1818-1868) managed their growing household until her death when John was just seventeen years old.
John had eight siblings who survived to adulthood: William Manuel (1853-1928), Frank T. (1855-1918), Mary Ann (1857-1894), Henry (1868-1922), Winnie (1872-1917), Hattie (1879-1935), James Ellis Jr. (1879-1942), Carrie (1881-1955), and Emma Mae (1882-1954). Growing up in this large farm family, John would have learned early the values of hard work, cooperation, and family loyalty that would serve him throughout his life.
Marriage and Family
At the young age of seventeen, John married Sarah Frances Goodwin on September 16, 1869, at the residence of her mother, Mrs. Sarah Goodwyn, in Chesterfield County. The ceremony was recorded in the St. David's Parish Register. Frances, born in 1848, was actually a few years older than John, which wasn't uncommon for the time. Their marriage would last an impressive 53 years until Frances's death in 1921.
Together, John and Frances built a strong family of their own, raising five children who survived to adulthood:
Sara Ann (1871-1948)
Charlie Thomas (1874-1950)
Lewis E. (1876-1940)
Agustus "Gus" Robert (1879-1949)
John Henry (1882-1955)
Census records indicate that Frances gave birth to nine children total, though sadly only six lived, reflecting the harsh realities of child mortality in the late 19th century.
Life as a Farmer in South Carolina
In 1880, when John was about 29 years old, the family was living in Cheraw, Chesterfield County, where John worked as a farmer. The census that year captures a snapshot of their young family: John and Sarah Frances with their four oldest children—Sarah Ann (8), Charles (6), Louis (4), and baby Agustus, just 8 months old. All the children had been born in South Carolina, showing the family's deep roots in the area.
The 1886 Property Transaction
On October 30, 1886, John participated in a significant family legal matter that sheds light on the close-knit nature of the Eddins family. Following the death of his mother, Ann Eddins, John joined with his siblings Frank T. Eddings, William Eddings, and Mary Ann Graham, along with R. T. Grant, as heirs at law to quitclaim a piece of property to E. A. Goodwin for the sum of one dollar.
The property in question was an 11¼-acre tract located about three miles from Cheraw on the public road leading to Chesterfield Court House. The deed describes the land beginning at the public road near a branch at the corner of land formerly belonging to William T. Goodwin, running south to the La Coste estate, then east and back to the road. This transaction suggests that E. A. Goodwin may have been related to John's wife Frances (née Goodwin), and the nominal one-dollar payment indicates this was likely a family arrangement to consolidate property ownership or settle estate matters.
Mary Ann Graham had to make her mark with an "X" on the document, indicating she couldn't write, which was not unusual for women of her generation in rural South Carolina.
Move to North Carolina
By 1900, the Eddins family had relocated to Red Hill in Marlboro County, South Carolina, though interestingly, the census recorded both John and Frances as having been born in North Carolina. John, now 50, continued his work as a farmer. The household included three of their children still at home: Gus (20), John H. (17), and daughter Fannie (14). The census noted that after 31 years of marriage, Frances had borne 9 children, with 6 still living.
Sometime between 1900 and 1910, the family made a permanent move across the state line to Lilesville in Anson County, North Carolina. This area, just across from the South Carolina border, would become John's final home. By the 1910 census, John was 59 and Frances was 62. They had been married 45 years, and of their 8 children, 5 were still living.
Later Years and Legacy
The 1920 census finds John and Frances, now 69 and 71 respectively, still living in Lilesville. John continued to identify himself as a farmer, likely working a smaller operation or helping his sons with their farming endeavors in his later years. The couple was living alone at this point, their children grown and established in their own lives.
Frances passed away in 1921, ending their 53-year marriage. John lived four more years as a widower, likely supported by his children who lived nearby.
Death and Burial
John Eddins died on August 15, 1925, in Lilesville, Anson County, North Carolina, at the age of 74. His death certificate listed his father as James Eddings and his mother as Ann Bone (Boan), confirming his family origins. The next day, August 16, he was laid to rest at Bethel United Methodist Church Cemetery, located on Highway 742 about five miles south of Wadesboro, North Carolina.
His tombstone spells his name "Eddins" (with an 'i'), though throughout most of his life and in official records, the family name was spelled "Eddings" (with an 'e'). This variation in spelling was common in the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in rural areas where literacy rates varied and records were kept by different officials.
Historical Context
John's life spanned one of the most transformative periods in American history. Born just ten years before the Civil War, he grew up during Reconstruction in South Carolina, witnessed the end of the 19th century, and lived to see the Roaring Twenties begin. As a farmer in the Carolinas, he would have experienced the shift from the plantation economy to sharecropping and tenant farming, the arrival of railroads that connected rural communities, and the gradual modernization of agriculture.
Through it all, John Eddins remained what he had always been: a farmer, a family man, and a steady presence in his community, leaving behind a legacy of five children, multiple grandchildren, and descendants who carry his memory forward today.
John Eddins is my 1st Cousin 3X Removed.
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1. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 31 October 2015); Memorial page for John Eddins; (21 May 1851–15 August 1925); Find a Grave memorial # 31082168, Citing Bethel United Methodist Church Cemetery; Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina, USA.
2. 1880 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Cheraw, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 2, Page: 263, Line 39, Dwelling:#17, Family:#18, Household of John EDDINGS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : online June 2025); citing National Archives Microfilm T9-1225.
3. Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Deed Book#8: pages 696 - 698, Heris at law of Ann Eddings to E. A. Goodwin; Register of Deeds, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina.
4. 1900 U. S. Census, Marlboro County, South Carolina, population schedule, Red Hill, Marlboro, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 0096, Page:#11B/232B(Stamped); Line:#74, Dwelling:#200; Family:#207, Household of John EDDINGS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : online June 2025); citing National Archives Microfilm T623_1536.
5. 1910 U. S. Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Lilesville, Anson, North Carolina;, enumeration district (ED) 0010, Page:#13A/140A(Stamped); Line:#49, Dwelling:#153; Family:#153, Hpusehold of John EDDINGS; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : online June 2025); citing National Archives Microfilm T624, Roll 1096.
6. 1920 U. S. Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Lilesville, Anson, North Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 11, Page: 5A/157A(Stamped); Line:#7, Dwelling:#86; Family:#1, Household of John EDDINS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : onlinr June 2025); citing National Archives Microfilm Series: T625, Roll: 1283.
7. John Eddings, death certificate 198 (Death Date: 15 Aug 1925), NC State Archives., North Carolina Deaths, 1908-67, Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina.
8. Complied by A. Haynes Dunlap & Steve Bailey, Cemeteries of Anson County, Volume II; Anson County Historical Society, 2000, page 35. Tombstone of John Eddins; 21 May 1851–15 August 1925, Bethel United Methodist Church Cemetery, Anson County, North Carolina.
9. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, John Eddins (21 May 1851–15 August 1925), Memorial # 31082168.
10. Marriage: Brent H. Holcomb, St. David's Parish, South Carolina Minutes of the Vestry 1768-1832,: Parish Register 1819-1924 (Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1991), page 109.
11. Obituary: MRS. S. F. EDDINS. obituary, The Messenger and Intelligencer, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina, United States, 3 March 1921, Page 4, Column 2.
12. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Sarah Frances Goodwin Eddins (20 December 1848–24 February 1921), Memorial # 31082240.
Note: Surnames spelled Goodwin/Goodwyn; Eddins/Eddings
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