Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/535

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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caused him at times to be misunderstood by others. Fire is always in the flint, but does not appear until drawn forth 1)y a gentle stroke: the harp is mute until the skilled hand elicits harmony that lies in the strings. So his soul, though it contained the fire of affectionate love and the harmony of beau- tiful Virtues, required the corresponding love to produce a lifelong afi'ection and friendship. He is gone, our dear companion and friend, but the re- membrance of his virtues will ever live within the walls of his "Kind Mother." Farewell, dear friend, thou shalt never be forgotten; they body sleepeth in the dust, but thy spirit lives with God, neither do thou forget thy many loyal friends of Mount Saint Joseph's College.

Oscar E. Edwards. Captain Oscar E. Ed- wards came to Norfolk from Boston, Massa- chusetts, and was one of the greatest and most skillful of that noble band of hardy men who in storm and sunshine .guard the \'irginia coast, the pilots. A follower of the sea from his sixteenth year, he was a thor- ough master of seamanship, while in judg- ment, courage and devotion he was unsur- passed by any of those, "Who go down to the sea in ships." There is little in the mere mention of the word "pilot" to excite the interest or imagination of those unfamiliar with the sea, but to those who have tra- versed deep water and felt the anxiety that pervades an incoming ship until the pilot comes on board, there is no calling invested with greater interest. Cruising for perhaps one hundred miles ofT shore and up and down the coast, on the constant watch for incoming vessels, putting out one after an- other of the men on board, imtil the crew of the pilot boat is often reduced to one man who must return her to the home port and gather again the pilots as they arrive. This handling of the pilot boat in no matter what the weather, for she must remain out to meet any incoming vessel, is but one of the trying items in the pilot's life. Often he must board in a gale, a feat attended with greatest danger, and then when on board is responsible for the safety of the ship he pilots and the lives on board. He cannot choose his ship, but be it steamer or sailer, good or bad, he must understand the man- agement of such a vessel, and bring her safely to port. It is the one business that defies nature, and must be followed with devotion and courage required of no other calling. In all the elements that go to make a great pilot. Captain Edwards excelled, and in his long career gained the admiration and respect of those engaged in his calling and

the confidence of ship owners and captains who committed their property and lives to his care. He led a wonderful life, and by his organization and management of the Pilots' Association, of which he was founder and president, he secured many reforms that benefited both the pilots of the Virginia coast and ship owners as well. He accumu- lated a fortune through his perilous calling by investing his earnings, and he was one of the most prosperous men of his calling. His adventures by sea were inost thrilling, yet this modest and intrepid man only con- sidered the risking of his life for others as a part of a pilot's duty and expected no praise. He died in 1906, aged seventy years, having retired from active life some years prior to his death.

Ca])tain Edwards descended from Wil- liam Edwards, born in 1616, died in 1697, at Jamestown, a clerk of council. His wife, Dorothy, bore him male issue.

William (2) Edwards, son of William (i) Edwards, married, in 1678, Elizabeth Harri- son, of Berkeley, and died in 1721.

Micajah Edwards, son of William (2) Ed- wards, married Elizabeth Bloud, of Sussex county, Virginia, and died in 1770.

William (3) Edwards, son of Micajah Ed- wards, married, May 30. 1774, Susannah Ed- wards, of Sussex.

William (4) Edwards, son of William (3) Edwards, was born in 1780, and died Janu- ary 22, 1827. He married, August 17, 1804, Frances Green Seawell, of Gloucester coun- ty, Virginia.

Oscar E. (i) Edwards, son of William (4) Edwards, was born May 4, 1809, and died December 13, 1880. He married, August 23. 1832. Mary Ann Jones, of Boston, Mas- sachusetts.

Oscar E. (2) Edwards, son of Oscar E. (I) and Mary Ann (Jones) Edwards, was born September 16, 1836, and died Novem- ber 20. 1906, at Norfolk, Virginia. He ob- tained a good public school education, and at the age of sixteen years began his long and adventurous career as seaman and pilot. He came to Norfolk from I'oston early in life, and resided there the remainder of his life, as before stated. Captain Edwards married, September 8, 1868, Sarah Ann Maker, of Norfolk, born September 16, 1836, daughter of John and .^nne (Greene) Baker, the latter daughter of Captain James Greene, an English sea captain, the former a de-