Gaston, Joseph.  "The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912."  Vol. 3. 
Chicago, Clarke Publishing Co., 1912. p. 1023.
 
JOHN STEPHEN EDWARDS

     is president of the First National Bank of Vale and has been thus
associated with the financial interests of his county for about four years.
Previously, he was engaged in farming and stock-raising. At every period of his
life he has been energetic and determined, wisely utilizing his time and
opportunities not only for his personal benefit but also in behalf of the
community in which he lived. He was born near Oskaloosa, Iowa, November 25,
1849, a son of Thomas D. and Barbara (Rinehart) Edwards, the former a native of
New York and the latter probably of Illinois. The parents were married near
Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1847, and were farmers in that state until 1854, when they
crossed the plains to Oregon with ox teams, the father acting as captain of the
train a part of the way. One day while en route the Indians stole some of their
stock but they recovered all but one ox the next day. They traveled by way of
the Landers cut-off, ultimately arriving at the present site of the city of Vale
on Malheur river. From that point they went up the river and southward to Harney
lake, crossing thence to a point on Crooked river, from which they made their
way over the Cascade mountains to the Willamette valley, settling three miles
east of Springfield in Lane county. Thomas D. Edwards there secured a donation
claim of three hundred and twenty acres, which he improved and on which he made
his home until a few years prior to his death. His wife died on the old
homestead in 1883, and he passed away in Eugene in 1894. He never cared for
public office and never filled public positions save that he served for one or
two terms as county commissioner. In his family were four sons and six
daughters. Henry D., the eldest, born April 21, 1848, married Eliza Clearwater
and lived on a farm about four miles east of Springfield for a number of years
but is now residing in Eugene. In his family are a son and four daughters. John
S. is the subject of this review. Martha J. married William Miller, who died
leaving two sons and two daughters, and she later married Al Farrow, a farmer
living in Paisley, Lake county, Oregon. Webly J., a farmer and stock-raiser of
Mayville, Oregon, married Jane Gross and they have three sons and a daughter.
Mrs. Alice E. Geiger, deceased, had one daughter. Mary is the wife of Doc
McPherson. They have two daughters and reside on her father's farm east of
Springfield in Lane county. Sarah is the wife of Robert Drinkwater, by whom she
has three sons and two daughters and they reside on a farm near the city of
Harney in Harney county, Oregon. Thomas E., a retired farmer living in Eugene,
married Jane Griffiths and they have two daughters and three sons. Leona is the
wife of Price Withers, a farmer and stock-raiser living near Harney, Oregon, and
they have three sons and two daughters. Emma is the wife of James Dyer, a farmer
and stockman residing near Mayville in Gilliam county, and they have six
children.
     John S. Edwards attended the public schools in Lane county, near the old
home place, and first engaged in business on his own account when in 1871 he
went to Baker county, now Malheur county, where he engaged in stock-raising. He
took up an eighty-acre tract on Willow creek and there made a specialty of
breeding and dealing in horses, until about four years ago, when he sold out and
removed to Vale, the county seat of Malheur county. Since that time he has
engaged in banking and is now president of the First National Bank.
     On the 27th of July, 1876, John Stephen Edwards married Sarah F. Smith, a
daughter of George W. Smith, who was a farmer and lived near Island City in
Union county, Oregon. Both Mr. and Mrs. George W. Smith are deceased. Their
family numbered four sons and five daughters, including Mrs. Edwards, who passed
away November 2, 1908. To Mr. and Mrs. Edwards were born four sons and five
daughters. Thomas, born January 26, 1878, died April 19, 1879. Nora, born
October 24, 1880, died September 24, 1899. Pearl E., born January 3, 1882,
taught school for several years but is now living at home. Harry C., born
January 26, 1884, married Merle Bogart. He resides with his son at Ironside,
Oregon, where he follows farming. Alma R., born April 16, 1886, is the wife of K
A. Boyd, an electrician who has charge of the electric light plant at Vale.
Phil, born November 26, 1888, is a farmer living in Cow valley, Malheur county.
Irma, born August 30, 1891, is a student in Link's Business College at Boise,
Idaho. Clarice, born October 29, 1894, is attending St. Margaret's Academy at
Boise. Willard R., born June 25, 1897, attends public school in Vale. After
losing his first wife John S. Edwards married Mrs. Cora Adeline Kirwin, who was
first married November 29, 1896 to William Kirwin at Klamathon, California, and
had one son, by Mr. Kirwin, born January 11, 1898, and a student in the public
schools of Vale. Mrs. Kirwin Edwards bore the maiden name of Cora Adeline
Freeman and was born in July, 1873. Her father was Clifford Dwight Freeman, a
farmer of Siskiyou county, California, and to him were born two sons and five
daughters, all living, of whom Mrs. Edwards is the first born. The second member
of the family is Paul G. Freeman, who was born February 22, 1875, and conducts
the leading general mercantile store in Vale. He married Maud Clancey of Vale in
January, 1905, and they have two children: Clancey Gerald, born in August, 1908;
and Herald, born in January, 1910. The third member of the family, a son, born
in August, 1877, lives at the home place in Siskiyou county, California. Grace
E., born in January, 1879, was married in 1900 to James Dickey, a railroad
engineer who died in 1906. His widow, who is a normal school graduate, is a
teacher in Dunsmuir, California. Mabel E., born in 1881, was married in
December, 1910, to Charles E. Bayles, a building contractor of Vale, and they
have a son, Charles Clifford, born in November, 1911. Nora M., born in 1885, was
married in 1905 to Lewis White and they reside near the old home place in
Siskiyou county, California, with their son, Byron Freeman, born in July, 1912.
Mary A., born in November, 1891, is a graduate of the San Jose State Normal
School and is a teacher in the public schools of Siskiyou county, California.
     Cora Adeline Freeman was born in July, 1873, and was married at Vale,
Oregon, on the 7th of February, 1910, to John S. Edwards. She is engaged in the
millinery business, conducting the leading millinery house in Vale. She is a
charter member of the Eastern Star chapter here and is well known in this city,
where both Mr. and Mrs. Edwards have an extensive circle of warm friends. They
are not only prominent factors in the business circles of the city but also in
its social life.


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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in November 2008 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.