Timetable for Margaret Smith Edmundson Duncan Parham

Margaret Smith Edmundson Duncan Parham (1763 – 1836)

Judith F. Russell

Research by Martha Easter, Barbara Edmundson, Ronald Edmundson, Judith Russell

Reprinted with permission from the South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research Vol. XXXII, No.4, Fall 2004

The Quakers, as members of the Religious Society of Friends were called, were among the early settlers of South Carolina. Some of them came to escape religious persecution and others were driven by the economic necessity of finding reasonably priced farmland on which to support their families. By Revolutionary times there were Quakers in Union and Newberry Counties from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina as well as from Ireland and England.

The community of Friends was a thriving one for many years as Quakers from all parts of the country met, married, and established their families. David and Hannah Hibbs Smith came from Bucks County, Pennsylvania with the Gilberts and others. David and Hannah were among the “founders of Union County.”[1] Isaac Edmundson came from Warrington Monthly Meeting in Pennsylvania. Isaac is said by researchers to be the great great grandson of William Edmundson (who was the founder of Irish Quakerism and who preached the first sermon in North Carolina)[2], but more proofs are needed on this line. Richard Duncan brought his family from Maryland.[3] The Gauntts had old New England roots and had lived in New Jersey and North Carolina before settling in the area.[4]

Margaret (she usually signed as Marget) Smith, born in 1763 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to David Smith and Hannah Hibbs,[5] was married three times. Her first husband was Isaac Edmundson, her second was John Duncan, and her third was John Parham. Her successive marriages and name changes can be traced through a series of South Carolina court cases, several of which contain two of her married names. During the years she was legally “Margaret Duncan,” Marget stated in one court action that her maiden name was Smith and, in another, that her son by her previous marriage was John Edmundson. Later, while she was using the name “Margaret Parham,” she stated that she was formerly Margaret Duncan. In that very acrimonious case she was assisted by her “next friend,” John Edmundson, whose daughter Hester was the wife of David Gilbert the son of Rebecca Gauntt and Thomas Gilbert.

Margaret Smith Edmundson Duncan Parham, whose life was linked to so many of South Carolina’s early Quaker families, died in 1836 and is buried in the Historic Bush River Quaker Cemetery at Newberry, South Carolina, as “Margaret Parham, aged 73 years.”

Date	Event	Reference
1763, 9^th month 6^th day	Margaret SMITH born to David and Hannah Smith of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.	William Wade Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy 1750 - 1930, Volume I, “Bush River Monthly Meeting, Newberry County, South Carolina” pp. 1023-1024.
1778, 10^th month 27^th day	Margaret SMITH is witness to deed of David Smith whereby David Smith sells land to “the people called Quakers.”	Recorded later in Union County, South Carolina Deed Book K, pages 37 – 38, recorded 2 October 1809.
About 1781	Margaret SMITH married Isaac EDMUNDSON.	Estimated from birth of son, John, in 1782.
1790	Margaret EDMONSON on Census of Population, Union District, South Carolina, with 2 males under 16 and 4 females, including heads of family.	1790 United States Census of Population, Union District, Newberry County, South Carolina.
27 December 1790	Margaret EDMUNDSON gives bond in sum of forty pounds to execute and administer the Estate of Isaac Edmundson.	Union County, South Carolina, Probate Box 1, Package 17.
1794	Margaret EDMUNDSON, widow of Isaac, deeds land to Jacob Duckett. Land was pledged as indebtedness obligation.	Union County, South Carolina, Deed Book D, page 375, 1794.
After 5 November 1805	Margaret EDMUNDSON marries John Duncan.	On 5 November 1805, John Duncan made his will naming second wife Rachel as heir. (Therefore, Margaret married John Duncan sometime afterward).
3 May 1809	Margaret DUNCAN signs that she has received $200 dollars in full of my dower of sd estate (John Duncan’s).	Newberry, South Carolina, Equity 1837, Package 6, Box 22.
28 August 1809	Margaret DUNCAN, who states that her maiden name was SMITH, says that she saw David Smith sign deed in 1778.	Union County, South Carolina, Deed Book K, pages 37-38 recorded 2 October 1809.
10 October 1810	Margaret DUNKIN, widow, appears to qualify as executrix for John Dunkin. On the outside of this document is written “Margaret EDMUNDSON probate representing estate of John Dunkin.”	Newberry, South Carolina, 1809, Probate Box 5, package 22. Margaret is named both as both Edmundson and Duncan.
1818, 9^th month 26^th day	Margaret DUNKIN of Bush River Monthly Meeting received on request at New Garden Monthly Meeting, Guilford County, North Carolina.	Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy 1750 - 1930, Volume I, “New Garden Monthly Meeting, Guilford County, North Carolina,” p.537.
21 January 1821	Margaret DUNCAN marries John PARHAM.	Newberry, South Carolina, 1823, Equity Case 17, states the date of Margaret Duncan’s marriage to John Parham.
1822, 6^th month, 5^th day	Margaret DUNCAN of Bush River Monthly Meeting received by Springfield Monthly Meeting, Guilford County, North Carolina.	Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy 1750 - 1930, Volume I, “Spring River Monthly Meeting, Guilford County, North Carolina,” p. 877.
3 May 1822	Suit filed by Margaret PARHAM for alimony. John EDMUNDSON, next friend, is witness to the abuses.	Newberry, South Carolina, 1823, Equity Case 17, states the date of Margaret’s marriage to John Parham and subsequent abuse at his hand.
1828, 1^st month, 9^th day	Margaret PARHAM (note says: formerly DUNCAN).	Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy 1750 - 1930, Volume I, “Spring River Monthly Meeting, Guilford County, North Carolina,” p 877.
27 June 1836	Death of Margaret PARHAM, aged 73 (therefore born 1763).	Tombstone in Historic Quaker Cemetery, Newberry, South Carolina.
1 February 1837	John Edmundson, son of Margaret DUNKIN who is recently deceased, files suit against the estate of John Dunkin.	Newberry, South Carolina, 1837, Equity Package 6, Box 22.