Reuben Isaac Edwards - Name

Also, is there any documentation for his parents?

Asking because his Find-a-Grave page doesn't list parents for him and the parents listed on Ancestry are totally different than the ones connected here on Geni.

Thanks.

I researched it and made some changes, but the problem is the records just aren't very good.

The first record I could find for him is the 1790 census.

Union, South Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over 2
Free White Persons - Males - Under 16 2
Free White Persons - Females 1

The 1800 census

Home in 1800 (City, County, State) Union District, South Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over 1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over 1
Number of Slaves 3
Number of Household Members Over 25 2
Number of Household Members 5

The only other record is his marriage record to Lydia, He must have been married before Lydia, but there's no record (that I could find) indicating who that could have been.

Yes, he was married twice...based on connections on Ancestry. He had a wife named Rachel Miller, who is connected as the mother of Mary (Edwards) Ellington rather than Lydia as her mother. But there's no documentation, that I can find, other than just the way people have connected Rachel Miller on Ancestry.

This is one such example from Ancestry:

Isaac Edwards, Sr and Jr
Story
Date submitted 12/12/2012
Description Lineage of Isaac Edwards Sr., and his son Isaac Jr, my paternal GGGGG and GGGG grandfathers, respectively. This story would appear to have Isaac Sr. arriving in in Union County, Read more
Submitted by williamedwards9
Attached to Rachel Miller
Birth abt 1780
Death aft 1835

BUT the more I looked at the trees where Rachel Miller is connected as a wife and mother in this family, there are inconsistencies, like some have her husband as Isaac William Edwards but more often Isaac O. Edwards, which makes it appear that more than one Isaac Edwards has gotten erroneously attached to Rachel Miller and some of the children of the Isaac Edwards we've been working on.

Erica, I appreciate your help on this because it has helped me realize that Rachel Miller probably isn't the mother of Len's ancestor Mary (Edwards) Ellington, as it has shown on Ancestry. So I'm going to change our tree to reflect what you determined - with Lydia as Mary's mother. Thanks.

The dates for Mary's mother Lydia don't add up.

Find a Grave has Lydia's year of birth 1792 and death 1881, which would make her 7 years old when May was born. However, in the Find a Grave bio, it states Lydia was born in 1765 and died in 1818/19.

A 1765 birth makes Lydia old enough to be Mary's mother, but, Lydia didn't marry Isaac until 1823. If she married him in 1823 (which is what the records have), it doesn't match the bio on Find a Grave, if she died in 1818/19.

Yes, I did see where Lydia was married to the Riddle husband prior to her marriage to Isaac. So they both were likely 2nd marriages for both of them.

It definitely complicates things when dates vary from site to site to site and nothing documents what is correct. Find-a-Grave does have a good many errors, in my experience, because often they just copy what is on Geni or in their family trees rather than posting documentation. So I'd trust the documented info over what someone posted on Find-a-Grave.

IF Mary's info is correct on Find-a-Grave, she was born 13 May 1800, which means she wouldn't have been Lydia's daughter since the documentation you mentioned states Lydia and Isaac married in 1823.

So there goes the notion that Lydia was Mary's mother. I can't prove that Rachel Miller was married to Isaac and was Mary's mother though, as I've only found that info in Ancestry trees. I will just Mary's mother as unknown 1st wife of Isaac Edwards until hopefully other information comes to light.

Based on birthdates, it seems most of Isaac's children were from his first marriage, prior to 1823.

I added an Unknown 1st wife to Isaac and added a note that her name might be Rachel Miller, then I changed Mary Ellington's mother to the new wife.

Thanks for assisting with this, JC.

Debbie Gambrell you're welcome!