Thomas H. Edwards

1900 United States Federal Census > Pennsylvania > Delaware > Chester Ward 8 > District 156

******Thomas Edwards 33 Sept 1866 Boss Roller Mill came 1882

Mary (Mary Harriett Phillips) Edwards 27 Feb 1872 came 1883 Marr 9 years

Mabel Edwards 8 Apr 1892

Lillian Edwards 5 Oct 1894

Gertrude Edwards 3 Dec 1897

1890 Philadelphia City Directory,

Thomas Edwards lived at 521 Wildey

also living there were: 

Davis Meshac laborer h 521 Wildey related to Matilda Davis Phillips?
Edwards John painter h 521 Wildey
Edwards Owen laborer h 521 Wildey
**Edwards Thomos roller h 521 Wildey

Edwards William engineer  h 521 Wildey  {Father of Thomas Edwards & 

husband of E. Ann (Hicks) Edwards}
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1881-1882   Thomas Edwards  came to United States   age approx. 14-15yrs 

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Thomas lived and worked at his grandfather's factory located in Newport Wales

Grandfather William Hicks lived across the railroad tracks, quite near Thomas' parents home in Machen, Wales

Thomas EDWARDS Birth Year <1867> Machen, Monmouth, England

   Age 14      Occupation Cold Roller (Tin)  

Head of Household William HICKS Relation Grandson
Dwelling Nantyceisid
1881<< Census Place Upper Machen, Monmouth, Wales

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Sept 1866 Thomas Edwards born in Wales

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A recollection of Mabel Edwards Simmers -

"When Thomas Edward's mother (Ann Hicks) gave birth to twins, he was sent live with his maternal grandparents (William Hicks and Betsy Kenvyn Hicks), who adored him, and he lived with them and grew up in the House that was occupied by the Hicks Family for 250 years, and is still "as good as new". My sister, Dottie (Dorothy Edwards Miller) painted a picture of it, and it hangs on my wall. When Tommy's parents decided to come to this Country he decided to come with them! He was about 16 at the time (About 1886). The old house (mentioned above) was recently sold. A second cousin of my father, was the last of the Hicks family to occupy it. His daughter is a Veterinarian in London, and they wanted to live near her, so they sold it! Members of my family have visited there often, and were sad to see it go out of the family.

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Thomas was a charter member of the Tacoma Tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men! Oldest Fraternal Order founded in the U.S.! Had its roots in the "Sons of Liberty" who organized the "Boston Tea Party"! http://www.redmen.org/

Its hardly accurate to describe the Improved Order of Red Men as the first Native American order--they didn’t admit Native Americans. But they were at least among the earliest American orders not imported from somewhere else. Understandably, the order had a hard time during the Indian Wars of the 1880’s. There may be some small individual Lodge sites and there are a few Red Men still around. There are many collectors of their jewelry, probably because of the Indian motif.

Who Are The Red Men?

The Fraternity was founded in 1765 and was originally known as the Sons of Liberty. These patriots concealed their identities and worked "underground" to help establish freedom and liberty in the Early Colonies. They patterned themselves after the great Iroquois Indian nation and its democratic governing body. Their system with elected representatives to governing tribal councils had been in existence for several centuries.

After the American Revolution the name was changed to The Order of Red Men. They kept the customs and terminology of the Indians as a basic part of the Fraternity. Some of the words and terms may sound strange, but they soon become a familiar part of the language for every member. The Masons are similar to the Order of Red Men in that they have patterned their rituals and work after the Ancient Masonic Craftsman. The Order of Red Men is a National Fraternal Organization that believes in ..

Love and Respect of the American Flag...

Preserving our Nation by defending and upholding the principle of free Government...

America and the democratic way of life...

Preserving the traditions and history of this great Country...

Creating and inspiring a greater love for the United States of America...

Helping our fellow men through organized charitable programs;

Linking our members together in a common bond of Brotherhood and Friendship;

Perpetuating the beautiful legends and traditions of a vanishing race and the keeping alive of its customs, ceremonies, and philosophies.

Legally, The Order of Red Men is a Patriotic Fraternity Chartered by Congress. It is a Non-Profit Organization devoted to Inspiring a greater love for the United States of America and the principles of American Liberty.

History of the Red Men

The Order of Red Men traces its origin to certain secret Patriotic Societies founded before the American Revolution. They were established to promote Liberty and to defy the tyranny of the English Crown. Among the early groups were: The Sons of Liberty, Sons of Tamina and the Red Men.

On December 16, 1773 a group of men, all members of the Sons of Liberty, met in Boston to protest the tax on tea imposed by England. When their protest went unheeded, they disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians, proceeded to Boston harbor and dumped overboard 342 chests of English tea.

During the Revolutionary War, members of secret societies quenched their council fires and took up muskets to join with the Continental Army. To the cause of Freedom and Liberty, they pledged their lives, their fortunes and sacred honors. At the end of the hard fought war, the American Republic was born and was soon acknowledged among the Nations of the world.

Following the Revolution the various secret societies founded before and during the conflict continued in existence as brotherhoods or fraternities.

For the next 35 years each group went its own way, under many different names. In 1813, at historic Fort Mifflin, near Philadelphia, several of these groups came together and formed one organization known as the Society of Red Men.

At Baltimore, Maryland, in 1847, the various local tribes came together and formed a national organization called the Grand Council of the United States.

With the formation of a national organization, the Order of Red Men soon spread, and within 30 years there were State Great Councils in 21 states with a membership of over 150,000. The Order continued to grow and by 1920, tribes in 46 states totaled membership over one half million.

Today the Order of Red Men continues to offer all Patriotic Americans an organization that is pledged to the high ideals of Freedom, Friendship and Charity. The same ideas on which the American Nation was founded.

A local group of Red Men is called a Tribe, and its Lodge is called a Wigwam. The supreme head of the order is called the Great Inchonee. The officers of a Tribe are: Sachem (chief); Prophet (chaplain); Senior Sagamore (lesser chief); Junior Sagamore (lesser chief); Chief of Records (secretary); Collector of Wampum (financial secretary); Keeper of Wampum (treasurer).

Even though Aprons were abolished as part of the regalia in 1869, regalia initially consisted of both aprons and collars. The collars were color-coded representing each of the three degrees: The initial, or first degree collar was pink (later changed to orange); the second degree collar was blue; and the third degree was scarlet. The aprons were scarlet, trimmed with the color of the degree of the wearer.

The Red Men degrees are called Adoption, Hunter, Warrior, and Chief. In the Adoption Degree, a paleface is naturalized into the Tribe. The Hunter's Degree, which is a prelude to the Warrior Degree, illustrated the manners and customs governing the chase, by which the hunters provided nourishment for the tribe. The Warrior's Degree illustrated the manner of enlistment for war. The Chief's Degree illustrated the religious forms and ceremonies of the Indians. The Degrees utilize such emblems as the bow and arrow, tomahawk, war club, wampum belt, peace pipe, and skeleton.

The IROM's stated goal is: "to perpetuate the beautiful legends and traditions of a vanishing race and to keep alive its customs, ceremonies and philosophies."

The Degree of Pocahontas was created for women on January 15, 1887, drawing on the legend of its namesake and the virtues of her life.

In November 1878, the Improved Order of Red Men organized the National Haymakers' Association which was its "fun" or "friendship" branch that was formed in response to the success of the Masonic Shrine of North America which had been founded in 1870.

In 1847, the various local tribes came together in Baltimore, Maryland and formed a national organization called the Grand Council of the United States.

Prominent Americans Who have been Members

George Washington Samuel Adams Thomas Jefferson Patrick Henry

John Hancock Richard M. Nixon Thomas Paine Paul Revere

Theodore Roosevelt Warren G. Harding Franklin D. Roosevelt And many others

" I am confident that in the final analysis we shall find that the stability of our government depends not so much on our armies and navies, though they may be vastly important, but rather, we must depend upon the Brotherhood of Humanity as represented by great force of fraternity. The fraternal societies are one of the greatest powers for good government and the protection of the home that we have in this country. The government will endure just as long as we protect the great interests represented by our fraternal societies."

---Theodore Roosevelt---

The above info courtesy of:

http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/fraternalism/haymakers.htm

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HI, Sharon!

I am told that this is Matilda Phillips, who was the sister of Thomas Edwards' wife, Mary Harriet Phillips. The picture that I have of Mary is taken at a considerably older age, but the family resemblence is there nevertheless!

The Edwards' and Phillips' were next door neighbors in Wales, I have learned from examining Census records, and Mary was just a child living next door when Thomas Edwards came to this Country, June 11, 1881! They were apparently married here, in Philadelphia, the Phillips family arriving in America March 20, 1882? I had originally thought that they met each other here, until I discovered that they were probably secretly childhood sweethearts from a foreign land! Pretty romantic, don't you think?

In examining an account of Thomas Edwards funeral and those who attended, I have been able to discover some additional siblings and who they married! I will continue to look for records of them, but that is about the best I have to go on at this time!

Thomas Edwards is of course, Dearie's father, and I have discovered that it is his ring, that I wear, which has an image of an Indian Chief in full head dress, with the letters TOTE engraved on the headband. I had originally supposed that it was Simmy's ring, but I began to suspect that it was Thomas Edward's ring, imagining that it had been presented to, TO T.E., to Thomas Edwards. I have since discovered that Thomas Edwards was the Chief of the "Improved Order of Red Men", Totem Lodge, which is a fraternal order, much like the Masonic, and which dates back to the time of The Minute Men! It appears that it came into existence as a merger of that group of freedom fighters and several other similar groups of the pre-revolutionary war years, and number among its members, 3 or 4 former U.S. Presidents! Confirmation of the origin of the ring came when I happened upon a Masonic website which featured a section which shows pictures of some of the Order of Red Men regalia and medalions. Sure enough, there was a picture of a lapel pin or similar with the very same Indian head. I have concluded that the TOTE is TOTEM, and that the missing M has just rubbed away from wear! Love Dad (Tom Simmers)