Rudolphus Edwards, son of Adonijah and Polly Edwards, came to Cleveland in the fall of 1798 from Chenango, N. Y. He was accompanied by his wife and two daughters, one an infant of two months old.
The eldest of the children was the only one of Mr. Edwards' first wife, Rhoda Barnett Edwards, whom he married in Tolland, Conn., in 1790, and who died three years later.
He married, secondly, Miss Anna Merrill.
It is claimed of the Edwards family that they came with a party of twelve people who met in New York State while on their way to Cleveland. They were Nathaniel Doan and family, Samuel Dodge, Stephen Gilbert, Nathan Chapman, and, lastly, Joseph Landon, who had spent part of the previous winter in Cleveland.
Mr. Edwards had been engaged in surveying wild lands for six years before his arrival, and the compass used by him during that period is preserved in the Historical Society.
He built a log cabin at the foot of Superior Street and a few feet south of it. This the family occupied for two years. Meanwhile, he purchased 500 acres of land on Butternut Ridge, afterwards called Woodland Hills Avenue, and lately renamed Woodhill Road. It was at the eastern terminus of a highway now called Woodland Avenue. The farm extended north and east of Woodland to Fairmount Street. To this farm the family were driven by the virulence of the malaria that attacked them all while they lived by the riverside, and here another log cabin was erected for their use. After ten years' occupation of it, Rudolphus Edwards engaged Levi Johnson to replace it with a frame tavern, which became an old landmark of future years. It was called the "Buckeye House," and its roof sheltered many a pioneer family bound for
townships south and east of Newburg, and its hospitality cheered and comforted in hours of weariness and discouragement.
The occupation of tavern keeping and the care of his large farm were two of the many activities engaged in by Mr. Edwards. In the winter season he often drove his slow-moving ox-team as far south as Pittsburg with a load of wild honey, receiving in payment household supplies. He also made trips to Detroit, carrying hay and other commodities to the garrison established there by the government before 1812.
In later years, when his age began to tell upon him, he gave his whole attention to his farm and tavern. It is said of him that, "Rain or snow, hot or cold, as regularly as Saturday came around, Uncle Dolph, as he was affectionately called, with his old horse, Dobbin, oldtime carryall, and big brindle dog seated bolt upright on the seat by the side of his master, would make his appearance in town for the purchase of supplies for the following week."
Anna Merrill Edwards was a woman of uncommon good sense and judgment qualities much needed in those pioneer days. If Uncle Dolph kept too many irons in the fire, Aunt Dolph had as many more in constant use. Six children were added to the two brought from Tolland, all born in the old tavern. Besides a family of ten to care for, and the uncertain traveling public to entertain, there were spinning, weaving, soap-making, candle-dipping, and numberless other things on her hands, and she performed these tasks faithfully and as a matter of course. But she died in middle age-53-when her youngest child was 15.
Mr. Edwards lost his father, mother, wife, and a daughter 25 years old within a period of three years. He died in 1840. All the members of the Edwards family who died in Cleveland were buried in a small cemetery in the rear of the old Congregational church, northwest corner of Euclid Avenue and Doan Street. It was then called the East Cleveland burying-ground. The entrance was from Doan Street. The largest and the finest monument in it, and, eventually, the last one, was that of the Edwards family, and, finally, when all the bodies had been removed from the cemetery, this, with other Edwards grave-stones, remained standing until the old church was razed. A big bank building stands on the site of the little church, and part of the cemetery is covered by another towering edifice.
Adonijah Edwards, the father of Rudolphus Edwards, was a soldier of the American Revolution. At an advanced age he came to Cleveland to live with his son. His wife Polly accompanied him, and they lived the remainder of their days in this Western pioneer town. He died in 1831, aged 90, and Polly Edwards only a year later, aged. 88. They were buried in the small cemetery, and their children, one by one, rested beside them.
The child of Rudolphus and Rhoda Barnett Edwards was Sally Edwards, m. Patrick Thomas.
The children of Rudolphus and Anna Marrill Edwards: Rhoda Edwards, b. 1798; m. Lyman Rhodes; 2nd, John Fay. Cherry Edwards, b. 1800; m. Samuel Stewart. Clara Edwards, b. 1802; m. David Burroughs. Anna Edwards, b. 1805; m. Noble Olmstead Stark Edwards, b. 1808; m. Hannah Saxton. Lydia Edwards, m. Lyman Little. Rudolphus Edwards, m. Sophia Mussen.
Cherry Edwards Stewart, daughter of Rudolphus Edwards, Sr., was a merryhearted woman who loved social pleasure. She was always on hand when sleigh-rides were proposed, and a beautiful dancer, who never lacked for partners at a party, even in middle age, and was leader in any fun going on. She was extremely neat, and, it is said, although refusing to use washboards after they were invented, her clothes hung on the line were snowy white. She had no daughters, but loved her many young nieces, and nothing gave her more pleasure than to initiate them in the various household mysteries she had herself mastered.
Children of Samuel and Cherry Edwards Stewart: Calvin Stewart, unmarried; d. aged, 20. Rudolphus Stewart, m. Margaret Sayles. She married 3rd, Edward Carter. Jehiel Stewart, m. Sophia Thomas sister of Dr. Thomas. Noble Stewart, removed to the West, married and had children
Children of Noble and Anna Edwards Olmstead: Margaret Olmstead, Maria Olmstead, Stark Olmstead, Levi Olmstead twins Both parents died young, and the children were raised by their uncles and aunts. Rudolphus Edwards, Jr., took Margaret Olmstead, and Cherry Stewart took Maria Olmstead.
Children of Rudolphus, Jr., and Sophia Mussen Edwards: John R. Edwards, m. Mary Grower. Lydia Edwards, m. Newton Bate. Mary J. Edwards, m. Daniel Grower. Sophia R. Edwards, m. Edwin Roberts. Sarah Ann, and Julia Stark Ed-wards, unmarried. Mrs. Sophia Roberts is a well-known member of the Western Reserve Chapter, D. A. R. In Harvard Grove Cemetery can be found the following inscriptions. No knowledge of the couple obtainable. "Henry Edwards died 1804, aged 52 years. Mary Edwards, his wife, died 1814, aged 54 years."
Also "Thomas Edwards, died 1829, aged 27 years."
