the bill creating that commission. The passage of the Pacific railroad funding act was also largely due to his influence and exertions. At the Na- tional Republican conventions, held in Chicago in 1880 and 1884, Mr. Edmunds received thirty-four and ninety-three votes respectively for the pi'esi- dential nomination, each on the first ballot. He was elected president pro tempore, of the senate after Mr. Arthur became president of the United States. In the sen- ate he has served on the committees on commei'ce, pub- lic lands, appropria- tions, pensions, re- trenchment, private land claims, the li- brai-y, and the judi- ciary, and has served as chairman of the last-named commit- tee for several suc- cessive congresses.
As a legislator. Senator Edmunds is
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noted for his legal acumen, his readiness in rep- artee, and his love of strictly parliamentary pro- cedure. He has been a fearless foe of political jobs and legislative intrigues. He was the author of the act of 22 March, 1882, for the suppression of polygamy in Utah and the disfranchisement of those who practise it. This is known as the " Ed- munds act," and was upheld by the supreme court in decisions that were rendered on 22 March, 1884, in a series of five cases. He was also the chief author of the similar act passed in 1887 ; and of the act of 1886 prescribing the manner in which electoral votes for president shall be counted. In 1886 he was the leader in the senate in the at- tempt to compel President Cleveland to furnish that body with all documents necessary to show cause for recent removals from office.
EDSON, Josiah, politician, b. about 1710; d.
in New York or on Long Island in 1778. He was
graduated at Harvard in 1730, and became a noted
tory politician in Bridgewater, Mass. Hutchinson
speaks of him in 1771, when he was in the legisla-
ture, as one who would ordinarily have had great
weight in that body, but who, discouraged by the
numbers of the opposition, remained inactive. In
1774 he was one of the " mandamus councillors,"
and in the same year was driven from his house by
a mob, and compelled to take refuge in Boston,
under the protection of British troops. At the
evacuation of that city in 1776 he went with the
army to Halifax, and then to New York. He was
a colonel of militia and a deacon of the church.
John Trumbull, in his satire '• McFingal," alludes
to him as " that old simplicity of Edson."
EDSON, Theodore, soldier, b. in Massachusetts
in 1838 ; d. in Rock Island, 111., 16 Nov., 1870. He
was graduated at the U. S. military academy in
1860, and served with honor in the civil war, being
chief of ordnance in Gen. Rosecrans's Tennessee
campaign. He was brevetted captain on 31 Dec,
1862, for services at the battle of Stone River,
given his full rank on 3 March, 1863, and com-
manded various arsenals and ordnance depots,
being chief of ordnance in the department of
Virginia and North Carolina in 1864-"5. He was
promoted to major in 1867, and in 1869-'70 was
instructor in gunnery at West Point.
EDWARDS, Josiah, Chilian capitalist, b.
in Serena, Chili, 13 Jan., 1816; d. in Valparaiso, 5.
Aug., 1877. He was the son of an English physi-
cian. Dr. George Edwards. At an early age he be-
gan business life as a partner in a mei'cantile con-
cern of Huasco, and soon acquired quite a fortune
in banking and mining operations at Copiapo. In
1850 he established at Valparaiso the first bank of
Chili, and afterward contributed to the foundation
of the Bank of Ossa, Bank of Bolivia, and of the
Bank of San Juan, in the Argentine Republic. He
was the originator and principal shareholder of
the railroad, established in 1851, between Caldera
and Copiapo, which was the first railway of South
America. Edwards furnished to William Wheel-
wright the capital necessary to establish the first
steamship line in the Pacific, or the Pacific steam
navigation company, and, besides being connected
with various South American railroads, was the
originator of the road that is to run across the An-
des to Buenos Ayres. He is the owner of silver
mines in Copiapo and Antofagasta, and of a manu-
factory of nitrate of soda at Salinas. Edwards was
the first speculator in Chilian copper in Europe.
He was elected to congress several times, and in
1870 became senator for Valparaiso. He was also
offered the portfolio of the treasury, but he declined
it. At his death he was worth $30,000,000.
EDWARDS, Bryan, English author, b. in
Westbury, Wiltshire, England, 21 May, 1743; d.
in England, 15 July, 1800. He received a fair edu-
cation at Bristol, and emigrated in 1759 to Jamaica
to live with a rich uncle, who gave him the means
of completing his education, and made him his
heir. He became an eminent merchant and jii'omi-
nent member of the colonial assembly, where he
attacked the restrictions made by the government
on trade with the United States. He afterward
went to Santo Domingo, where he spent several
years in collecting materials for his work on 4:hat
island. He then returned to England, and from
1796 till his death was a member of the house of
commons, where he was a zealous defender of the
Creole planters against Willici'force's attacks on
slavery and the slave-trade. 1 lepublished "Thoughts
on the Trade of the West India Islands with the
United States" (1784); "History of the British
Colonies in the West Indies " (2 vols., London,
1793; vol. 3, with plates, 1801 ; new ed., including
two new volumes, 5 vols., 1819 ; abridgment of the
first three vols., 2 vols., 1794). The third volume
contains also a " History of Santo Domingo " (first
published in 1791 ; 2d ed., 1797) and an autobiog-
raphy. Mr. Edwards also published " Conduct of
the Government and Colonial Assembly of Jamaica
in regard to Fugitive Slaves" (London, 1796), and
printed privately " Proceedings of the Association
for promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts
of Africa " (1798), and a volume of poems.
EDWARDS, Charles, lawyer, b. in Norwich, England. 17 March, 1797; d. in New York city, 30 May, 1868. He was graduated at Cambridge, removed to New York, practised law, and was for twenty-five years counsel to the British consulate in that city. He was the author of " The Juryman's Guide " (1831) ; " Parties to Bills and Other Pleadings " (1832) ; " Feathers from My Own Wings " (1833); "Receivers in Chancery " (1839-'46) ; "Reports of Chancery Cases, First New York Cir- cuit — 1831-45 " (4 vols.) ; " History and Poetry of Finger-Rings " (1855) ; "Receivers in Equity" (1857); "Referees" (1860); "The Stamp-Act of 1862" and "Pleasantries about Courts and Lawyers" (1865). — His son; Pierrepout, has been for many years British vice-consul in New York.
