July 13, 2020

Dear Pamela,

I am contacting you about this profile: Amanda Gardner. I have a letter written in 1834 to an Amanda Edney of Augusta Ga and wonder if this could be the same person. It discusses a potential marriage of hers so I guess she would have been born about 1815. Her mother is deceased but the letter writer is her mother's sister Annabella/e (husband Beverly) and her mother's mother is Lucy. Also may have a younger sister named Matilda. I have no idea how or if she is related to my family but the letter was in a collection of letters my grandmother had. Thanks, Bill

Sincerely,

William Cowden

Here is a transcript of the letter:

Letter to Amanda Edney In Augusta Ga, written Oct 19 1834 in Yranquilla? My Dearest Amanda, Your letter of the first ?? was received but today and I very much fear in that this reaches you, you may be no longer your own ??. Since the receipt of your letter I have felt quite uneasy. Now my dear girl do let me as your aunt and your best friend advise and instruct you as a beloved sister would have done her daughters were she in this world. If you have not gone too far (and it is not too far if you are not married) discard(?) Mr Thomas. In the first place he is entirely too young and there is not a sufficient difference between your ages. Secondly it will not do to marry a man with whom you have to spend your lifetime unless you love him and that truly. I do not mean to insinuate ?? what you think you love him. But after marriage it is too late to find the sad reality of the case(?)For then there is no remedy but fortitude and I think that even my dear Amanda with all her patience and forebearance would find it a bitter cup to drink to the dregs. Third you say he is as moral as most young men. Beware oh! Beware! This is a dangerous shoal and many amiable and unsuspecting girls have been wrecked upon it. Have you any friend who would have been candid enough with you to have told you his faults? I can safely answer no. Mother never goes into the ?? and of course knows nothing about him to his disadvantage. Amanda let me beg of you if you ever loved me or hold dear the memory of your dear mother to desist(?) You say he has no bad qualities as you suppose for an ??. That any man would be foolish enough to discover to a girl he was anxious to marry the bad traits in his character. No! Rest assured he will conceal them until he has obtained her hand and then come the appalling discovery that your husband was not quite perfect and of course discord(?) with all its attendant evils upon the back of that. And the last of all though by far as great an objection as the foregoing ones, I never would marry into a family where any member was opposed to it. Amanda we have the same blood in our veins and so speak plainly I think you ought to have too much pride to do such a thing for I would have. Perhaps after reading this fan(?) you will say if I agree with what my aunt says what shall I do. I will tell you come out with ?? and live with me. You shall be as comfortable as our situation will admit and you know that you would truly be a welcome inmate of my abode. You certainly cannot feel ?? with me for who could have a greater claim on me than my niece and moreover you shall not feel so. Beverly is anxious(?) for you to come for he is very ?? or the ?? of my family and is particularly anxious for you and Matilda to do well. Now I must tell you a little news about home. For the last three or four days I have been down with the chill and fever and I am afraid unless I take medicine that I will have it again tomorrow. ?? is well and is as smart and pretty as ever. Beverly is well and his crop looks promising but I fear we will have a frost tonight which will diminish it considerably. You must give my love to mother and sister and tell them to write me. Tell Ina/ma(?) to be sure and send Matilda with all her school books and maps(?) and a book containing the ?? of ?? for I intend to devote a part of my time to instructing her. Tell ma to send her out with a plenty of good clothes for we are obliged to pay three times as much here for articles as they would cost you in Augusta and they are difficult to obtain at that. Beverly wrote a postscript to my mother in one of my letters on the subject of a divorce and urged? her in the strongest terms to ?? for one/once(?), if she does not now consent all ?????????? be of no avail. Last night we had a severe frost which has injured us considerably. Beverly has ????his two women from Georgia – Affy and Molly. They have been ?? away for a year. I have seen cousin Isiah since he returned from Augusta. He gave me a description of mother and family which was gratifying to me. I have not heard in a long time home ?? ! My dear girl ponder well upon what I have written you and if I have been rather candid with you do not be offended but think that it is for your good and that if I did not love you I would not have said anything more on the subject. Love to all. Your true friend and attached Aunt Annabell(a/e). P.S. if you are married do not ?? this letter but burn it instantly. Aunt Chloe sends her love to you all and particularly Mary. Tell mother there is a letter in the post office at Augusta for Lucy ??. I expect it must be for her.

From Pam Wilson:

Hi, Bill! What a wonderful mystery your letter presents. Where did your grandmother live?

I am without too much doubt that she is the same person, since I don't believe any other of the Edney family of Henderson County, NC, had relations in Augusta other than John Morris Edney who married Elizabeth Fall/Falls--but I can't easily find much on her family, so I cannot confirm the names of her mother or sister. John Morris Edney died in Mobile, AL in 1824, so it appears that the widow and daughter returned to her home of Augusta.

There is an additional clue that sparks another mystery, though. You say that Elizabeth Fall Edney was dead at the time of the letter in 1834--but I found a marriage for:

Name:	Elizabeth Edney

Spouse: Stephen Mcdermatt Marriage Date: 20 Dec 1826 Marriage County: Richmond Marriage State: Georgia

And then a grave for

Name: Elizabeth McDermott Death Date: 7 Dec 1870 Cemetery: Magnolia Cemetery Burial or Cremation Place: Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia, United States of America

I would think this might be Elizabeth the widow remarrying Mr. McDermott--but if so, she lived a good many years--decades--past 1834. Is there another way to interpret the letter, perhaps?

There is almost nothing for a Fall family in Augusta. I found a George Foll on the Georgia Property Tax list for 1797-1798 for two lots and houses valued at $1200 and also listed in 1800 for presumably the same two improved lots in Augusta.

Also, I did find a record on Ancestry for a Lucy Foll who was in the time range to have been Elizabeth's and Annabelle's mother and George's widow if he died soon after:

Name: Lucy Moore Foll (noted as Mrs.) Spouse: George Pearson Marriage Date: 11 Sep 1803 County: Richmond State: Georgia

One can imagine that she might have married Mr. Pearson after the death of George Fall.

P. S.Ah, a small breakthrough! I found a listing of Amanda's children online and noticed she had a daughter Arabella. So instead of Annabella, I searched for Arabella and found a FindaGrave for an Arabella PEARSON borrn 1815 (so she would have been Lucy's daughter by her second husband) married to a George Augustus Beverly Walker in Augusta, GA. See https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/189257296/arabella-lucy-walker

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 13 2020, 22:23:24 UTC