EDWARDS, Albert Johnathan 1847-1925

EDWARDS, MARSH, HALL, VAUGHAN, GRAHAM, YORK

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 9/19/2012 at 00:17:42

[Waterloo Evening Courier, Saturday, March 07, 1925, Waterloo, Iowa]

A. J. EDWARDS, 78,
PIONEER LAWYER,
CALLED BY DEATH

Was Busy and Active in
Workaday Life Until One Week
Ago Last Tuesday

FUNERAL WILL BE MONDAY
AFTERNOON AT $ O'CLOCK

Man Contributed Much, in
Nearly 70 Years, to
Upbuilding of Waterloo

Albert J. Edwards, early settler, former clerk of the courts, well known attorney, member of First Baptist church for 60 years and a trustee of that church for 40 years, died at his home, 1103 Lafayette Street, at 10:15 p. m. yesterday of Bright's disease and complications at the age of 78 years.

Public funeral service will be at 4 p. m. Monday from First Baptist Church. The prayer service at the house at 10:15 and the service at the grave in Fairview will be private for members of the family. Rev, R. E. Williamson, pastor of the church, will officiate.

Altho handicapped by physical weakness Mr. Edwards kept in the harness of active life until a week ago last Tuesday. He spent all of that day in his office, taking his bed in early evening. His wish to be active until the end, without a long period of invalidism, was gratified.

Few men in the country were better known and none more highly respected than Mr. Edwards. Coming here as a boy 10 years old in 1857, he spent the remaining portion of his life in Waterloo, lending his counsel and help to every good work that had for its object the betterment of humanity. For 55 years he had been in public life either as an official or as a professional man, and by that means he came in contact with thousands of people in an intimate way.

His interests centered largely about his home, his church, his brethren in the legal profession and in the Black Hawk County Early Settler's Association, which he helped to organize and of which for many years he was secretary. He was deeply concerned with the preservation of the early history of the county, the experiences in which he played so large a part.

Few men have lived In the county whose advice was more eagerly and universally sought than in the case of Mr. Edwards. This came about because of his acquaintance and the confidence in which he was held. Scarcely a day passed that he did not perform some gratuitous service to his fellowmen.

Denied the advantages of education early in life, he acquired that broader, more sympathetic culture which comes from mingling with people and with sharing in their joys and sorrows. He was mild-mannered, courteous and cordial.

Born in Troy, Wisconsin, January 22, 1847, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Edwards, took Albert at the age of four years, back with them to Thomaston, Connecticut , where the father was killed in a railway accident a year later.

At nine years of age Albert came west to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin to live with his father's sister and her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Marsh. With them he came to Black Hawk County in the spring of 1857. His educational advantages were meager - attendance at country schools and a few terms in the Waterloo schools. Working on a farm until he was 22. For three years thereafter Mr. Edwards ran a peddling wagon out of Waterloo, selling dry goods and groceries. In January, 1870, Mr. Edwards was appointed deputy sheriff, serving until January 1873, when he was appointed deputy clerk of the district court.

On June 9, 1873, Mr. Edwards was married to Miss Amanda F. Hall and to them six children were born, all except one, Ethel Agnes, who was the wife of Col. George D. Graham, survive. Mrs. Edwards died in April, 1919.

In 1880 Mr. Edwards was nominated by acclamation for clerk of the district court. He received the nomination in this manner for five other successive terms, serving in all 12 years. While in the clerk's office he studied law at the suggestion of Horace Boies, then the leading lawyer to northern Iowa, and afterwards governor for two terms.

"Following Mr. Boies' advice in this respect that was the greatest decision in my life and gave me the greatest opportunities for service." Mr. Edwards often told the writer, "It changed my whole life's course."

Mr. Edwards had made arrangements to enter the practice of law; with Franklin C. Platt. but in the spring of 1892 the cashier of the Commercial National Bank resigned and Mr. Edwards was induced to resign as clerk and take the vacant position. He remained with the bank until January 1, 1896, when he was appointed secretary and attorney of the Leavitt & Johnson Trust Co. Platt was elected judge of district court in 1897 and Mr. Edwards bought his new library. In the fall of 1897 Mr. Edwards formed a law partnership with Alfred Longley. Soon the firm had a large and lucrative practice.

In 1913 Judge C. K. Ransier resigned from the bench to enter the firm. Later Paul W. Smith was taken in as a partner, but he withdrew to engage in other work and George D. Harris became a partner, the firm name now being Edwards, Longley, Ransler & Harris.

For many years Mr. Edwards served as director of the Commercial National Bank and Waterloo Savings Bank. He was president of the board of education in Waterloo East for 13 years and a director for a longer period. For 10 years past he had been president of the board of trustees of the Young Men's Christian Association. He was a member of the inheritance tax appraisers. He was one of the incorporators of the Waterloo Building & Loan Association and was its president for many years. The men who organized that and similar association which followed it contributed largely to the prosperity and upbuilding of Waterloo. He was for a long time an active member of the Fortnightly Club.

But for Mr. Edwards much of the interesting autobiographical material concerning Gov. Boies probably would not now be in possession of the Iowa Historical Society. He was not only responsible for Mr. Boies' writing some of the personal recollections that he did, but in later years gave the society the original letters that passed between him and the governor.

Mr. Edwards was the ideal biographer of Gov. Boies in bringing out the human and lovable qualities of Iowa's fourteenth chief executive.

An unusual tribute of respect was paid to Mr. Edwards by member of the Black Hawk County Bar association on the occasion of his seventy-eighth birthday. A dinner was arranged in his honor and talks were given by friends who had known him intimately and admired him for his lovable qualities.

Afterwards personal letters from members of the bar and from a few other intimate friends were bound in book form and presented to Mr. Edwards. These he treasured more highly than any material gifts they could have contributed, because they expressed the sentiments of the heart in the handwriting of the authors. These letters ran the gamut of human emotions - humorous, whimsical, kindly.

The surviving children of Mr. Edwards are: Mrs. J. R. Vaughan, Blanche E. and Justin, Waterloo; Mrs. L. H. Minkel, Fort Dodge, and Mrs. David W. Edwards, Los Angeles, California, Mrs. George D. Graham, another daughter died in 1919. A brother, L. H. Edwards lives in Cedar Heights, and a sister Mrs. Emma York in Thomaston, Connecticut .

Grandchildren who survive are: Herbert Vaughan, Waterloo; David Edwards, Jr., Los Angeles; Lewis, Roger, Willard, Elizabeth and Mary Eleanor Minkel, Fort Dodge; Ruth Graham, San Francisco.

The oldest grandchild, James Gordon Vaughan, was killed while fighting with the Rainbow division in France during the world war.

Mr. Edwards' body is at the O'Keefe & Towne undertaking parlors.

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The caption below a Courier photo said "Albert Johnathan Edwards"

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