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Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1767-1849) the father of the immigrant, Richard
Edgeworth, was an amazing man. In fact, there is a biography of his life
entitled The Ingenious Mr. Edgeworth. Richard Lovell and his first
wife, Anna Maria Elers, had four children, the oldest being Richard, immigrant
to Cheraw District. His younger sister, Maria Edgeworth, the second child
of Richard Lovell and Anna, was a renowned authoress, whose books are now in
process of being republished. After the death of Anna Maria Edgeworth in
1773, and remarriage to Honora Sneyd, Richard Lovell relocated to what is now
Edgeworthton, Ireland.
Richard, born May 29, 1764, in Oxfordshire, England, had an eventful youth, and
is well documented in the book The American Edgeworths by Edgar E.
MacDonald. This book is mostly a collection of letters written after the
death of Richard between his wife and children, and Richard Lovell Edgeworth and
Maria Edgeworth in Ireland. Here we find a wealth of genealogical
information on the descendants of Richard Edgeworth. Richard arrived in
the colonies sometime in the late 1780's, first being in Virginia. Later
he relocated to Charleston, and then to the upper Pee Dee River, in Marlboro
County, where he was a tutor in the house of Claudius Pegues. There he met
and married Elizabeth Knight. In 1795, the General Assembly of North
Carolina passed a charter to Richard, William Pegues, and William Johnstone as
commissioners for the purpose of building a town in Anson County, North
Carolina, that became Sneedsboro, a well known resort town. Richard lost
all this property and it was bought by William Johnston. Richard's health
failed, resulting in his death at the age of 32 years of age on August 19,
1796. His will of 1792, probated in Georgetown, was recorded in Anson
County, NC. Richard and Elizabeth Knight Edgeworth had three children, the
first two being named after their mother's brothers, Nathaniel Lovell Edgeworth
(May 1789-1872), Achilles Sneyd Edgeworth (December 25, 1791-August 4, 1858) and
Richard Edgeworth (November 4, 1795-June 3, 1861). Around 1809, Elizabeth
and her sons relocated to the Angelus area of Chesterfield County, SC. All
three brothers moved on to Georgia and Alabama, but Richard returned and lived
the remainder of his life a few miles east of current day Pageland.
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