Author: Biographical Publishing Co.

THOMAS J. EDWARDS, inside-foreman of the Pennsylvania Colliery, is one of the most enterprising men in Strong, Mount Carmel township, Northumberland County, Pa., and has always been one of that town's most active workers. He is a man of upright principles and excellent character and has a host of friends in the county. He is a son of Richard and Elizabeth (John) Edwards, and was born September 18, 1840, in Glamorganshire, Wales. Our subject's mother died when he was a child, and his father immigrated to America in 1854 and located at Pottsville, Pa., where he followed the trade of a tailor, but it was only a short time until he moved to Summit Hill, Carbon County, Pa., and there remained the rest of his life, dying in 1860. Thomas J. Edwards, the subject of this biography, came to America at the age of fifteen years, and in October, 1855, located with his father in Pottsville, Pa. Previous to his coming to this country he had worked in the mines for six years, and after his father's removal to Summit Hill he began work in December as a driver of mules, and then worked as a laborer, and later as a miner. It was in this way he obtained the positions of foreman and finally that of inside-foreman in Luzerne County, and he has remained in that position ever since. His first position as foreman was under the employ of Judge Leisering of Mauch Chunk; next, for the Buck Mountain Coal Company, and in July, 1894, he entered the employ of the Union Coal Company at Hickory Ridge, and remained there until 1898, when he went to the Pennsylvania Colliery. He has always given entire satisfaction to all of his employers and has steadily advanced in the business. Mr. Edwards has always been a stanch Republican, taking an active interest in political affairs. He is one of the most active members of the Baptist Church and is one of the trustees of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Welsh Association. He is also a member of the Welsh Baptist Church in Mahanoy City, there being no organization of the kind in h:s home. Mr. Edwards enlisted in the Civil War August 15, 1861, in Company A, 4th Reg., Pa. Cavalry, and also served as private for three years in the Army of the Potomac. He is a member of several fraternal organizations, including Lodge No. 357, F. and A. M.; Mapeth Chapter, R. A. M.; Lodge No. 617, I. O. O. F.; Knights of the Golden Eagle; and Royal Arcanum, all of Mahanoy City. He is a member of and the present chaplain of Lincoln Post No. 140, G. A. R., of Shamokin, Pa. In May, 1860, Mr. Edwards was united in marriage with Margaret Richards, and they are the parents of several children, namely: Richard, who was killed in a coal breaker; Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas H. Kooms of Mahanoy City; Jane, the wife of John H. Bernard of MacAdoo, Pa.; Polly, the wife of Harry Mengel of Mahanoy City; Richard, motorman between Mahanoy City and Shenandoah; Thomas J., who was killed by accident; John, who is clerking at Hickory Ridge, married Hannah Frank, and he and his wife live with the subject of this sketch; Oliver P., at home; Maggie, and James A. Garfield, both living at home.


Extracted from: Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District

Published by Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)