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Principal of the first Lawrence high school.
Mr. Edwards became one of the pioneer and prominent educators in Kansas. Charles L. Edwards was born at Southampton, Mass. October 12, 1828. He received his education in the public school, Southampton Academy Williston Seminary, and Philips Academy, Andover. In 1852, he graduated from Westfield Normal School.
Mr. Edwards came to Kansas in November, 1855, having in mind three reasons for coming: to assist in making Kansas a free state, to help in forming its educational character, and to better his own fortune. For a year he was clerk for hon. S. C. Pomeroy in the Emigrant Aid Company’s office.
He was living in the Free State Hotel with the Eldridge family when it was burned by Sheriff Jones and his men on the 21st of May, 1856, at which time he saved the historic call bell.
On March 30, 1857, he opened the first public school, Quincy High School, in the basement of the Unitarian Church. In the winter of 1857-58, he was principal, with Misses Lucy M. Wilder, Sarah A. Brown and Mary Boughton as assistants.
In 1862, he enlisted in his native town as a private and retired at the close of the war as major of his regiment. In 1866, Major Edwards returned to Lawrence, where he remained until his death.
Mr. Edwards was married in Massachusetts in 1860 to Miss Susan R. Powers, who was born in Hadley, Massachusetts. They had one daughter, Virginia Sedgewick, who was city librarian in her later life.
The Edwards family where members of the Plymouth Congregational Church. Mr. Edwards was the twenty-sixth person to become a member.
These pictures were given to the library by the Misses Emma and May Savage in 1929.
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Lucy Wilder
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Mary Boughton
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Quincy School
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Susan R. Powers Edwards
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Unitarian Churches
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| Type: |
image |
| Project: |
WJHS Grant |
| Temporal coverage: |
1850's, 1860's |
| Creator: |
Willis Studio. Lawrence, Kas. |
| Contributor(s): |
DaLee's Art Gallery |
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