This 1907 photo was recently found by descendants of the Edwards family pictured here. Prominent in the history of Highlands, they lived on a dairy farm at the north end of Fifth street, where they had a barn, granary, carriage house, apple orchard, cider press, and vegetable garden. Their property ran along Hickory and Poplar streets to the Cashiers Road, and is located at the head of the Kelsey Trail. Highlands historian Ran Shaffner wrote about their “bucolic homestead” in the Oct. 22, 2004, issue of Highlands Newspaper:
“Only one family in Highlands has lived this long on land their ancestor bought even before the official founding of the town. Indeed, no other family within the town limits can claim to have lived continuously on land they bought from the town’s founder, Samuel Kelsey, himself, as Charles B. Edwards did 126 years ago. And the Edwards family still lives on almost 10 acres where 5th Street vanishes into the Kelsey Trail.”
Laurel readers, as we mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of Highlands, I’m here to tell you the Edwardses are there yet, in their 1891 farmhouse! (The first having burned down).
I recently spoke with first cousins Rosemary Fleming and Anne McDonald, who told me about their ancestors in the photo, and their own memories of growing up in Highlands, some of which I will include in a future article.
Their grandfather, Grover David Edwards (1884-1942), son of Charles B. mentioned above, stands on top of the rock, in shirt and tie and light-colored hat. His mother, Sarah, is the lady seated in white blouse and dark skirt, closest to the viewer. Her husband Charles is not shown because he disappeared years earlier. Grover was one of eight children.
Aside from running the family farm, Grover also worked as a forester for Prioleau Ravenel Jr., who owned most of the land between Highlands and Cashiers.
Grover’s younger brother, Charles, is the four-square looking fellow standing far left, holding a gun. Three of their six sisters are shown.
Reading left to right they are: Gertrude Edwards Richert (sitting in profile, looking at her children Marguerite and Joseph Richert); Gertrude (standing next to Grover); and Mary Edwards Wright, who died the very next year.
Her husband was Charlie Wright, later famous for his daring rescue on Whiteside Mountain. But by then, the widower had married Helen, of Helen’s Barn fame.
Favorites Count: 0