Eleanor's Family Tree:Information about Charles Edmondston
Charles Edmondston (b. June 20, 1782, d. June 15, 1861)
Notes for Charles Edmondston:
Charles Edmondston arrived at the port of Charleston in 1799 at age 17 to seek his fortune.The second son of a Shetland Island physician, Edmondston amassed great wealth as a merchant and wharf owner.He married Elizabeth Church of Wilmington, NC and, following her death, married Mary Pratt, daughter of Capt. John Pratt of Chestertown (or Charlestown), Massachusetts.Edmondston developed an extensive business as a factory and wharf owner.Charleston directories from 1809 to 1841 list his various businesses and residences on Church, Meeting, Laurens, Eastbay and Legare Streets, and on the Battery.
In 1828, construction was completed on his East Battery mansion, built on land he had purchased in 1817.The low and sandy lot, previously the site of Fort Mechanic, was unfit for residential construction until 1820 when the first sea wall was built by city officials.From his house, Charles Edmondston could watch the seagoing ships as they entered and left the harbor.The periodic economic depressions of the 1830's deeply affected the upcountry cotton planters, and, consequently, the merchants and shippers of Charleston. The great panic of 1837 saw prices fall dramatically and Edmondston was among those whose fortunes were drastically depleted.In 1838, after only a decade of occupancy, Charles Edmondston was forced to sell his new house to satisfy his creditors.
The Edmondstons moved to Aiken, South Carolina before the Civil War, and Charles died there June 15, 1861, in his seventy-eighth year.The notice of his death in the Charleston Mercury stated he had been a prominent merchant in the city and was "one of those of whom our community has a right to be proud . . . his unchangeable probity as a merchant made him an exemplar, among his bretheren. . . . "The Charleston Port Society passed a resolution eulogizing Edmondston as an "honest, upright and intelligent merchant, a warm friend, a useful citizen and sincere Christian. . . ."
By his Will, dated April 17, 1850, Edmondston provided that any property which he possessed, real or personal, was left to his wife Mary Pratt, and she was appointed executrix.The Will was probated July 25, 1861, and Mary Edmondston, widow, qualified as executrix.
More About Charles Edmondston and Mary Pratt:
Marriage: December 25, 1810, Charleston, South Carolina.
Children of Charles Edmondston and Mary Pratt are:
- Janet Mary Edmondston, b. January 10, 1812, d. May 14, 1813.
- Laurence Augustus Edmondston, b. June 05, 1814, d. date unknown.
- +Charles Edmondston, b. February 23, 1816, Charleston, South Carolina, d. February 1879, Charleston, South Carolina.
- John Pratt Edmondston, b. October 04, 1817, d. April 07, 1819.
- Patrick Muir Edmondston, b. June 21, 1819, d. 1871.
- Jessie Edmondston, b. March 19, 1821, d. October 06, 1886.
- Robert Donaldson Edmondston, b. July 08, 1822, d. March 1863, Charleston, South Carolina.
- Elizabeth Pratt Edmondston, b. December 11, 1823, d. date unknown.
- Caroline Kirkpatrick Edmondston, b. September 02, 1824, d. date unknown.
- Thomas Edmondston, b. September 07, 1825, d. August 01, 1874.
- Isabella Donaldson Edmondston, b. January 23, 1829, d. date unknown.
- James Nicolson Edmondston, b. June 21, 1831, d. March 1896.
- Henry Edmondston, b. July 14, 1833, d. date unknown.