Background
Ogden Edwards (1781-1862) was a jurist and legislator, son of Pierpont Edwards (1750-1826)
and Frances Ogden. A native of Connecticut, he moved to New York in the early 1800s. Edwards
served as surrogate of the County of New York in 1807, member of the New York Assembly in
1814 and 1817, counsel for the Corporation of New York from 1816-1822, member of the New
York State constitutional convention in 1821, and judge of the 1st Circuit in the State of
New York from 1822-1841. In 1846, he unsuccessfully ran for Governor of New York on the Whig
ticket. He died on Staten Island, New York, on April 1, 1862.Pierpont Edwards (1750-1826) was a lawyer, politician, and jurist, the youngest son of the
theologian Jonathan Edwards, and father of Ogden Edwards and Henry Waggaman Edwards
(1779-1847). During the Revolutionary war, he served in Connecticut militia. He was elected
to the state legislature in 1777, 1784-1795, and 1787-1790, serving as a speaker in the
latter period. In 1787-1788, Edwards was a delegate to the Continental Congress, and was a
member of the state convention that ratified the Constitution. Pierpont Edwards was
appointed administrator of the estate of Benedict Arnold. In 1800, Edwards took an active
part in organizing the Jeffersonian Republicans and was recognized as the party's leader in
the state, serving as a chairman of the general committee. In 1806, Jefferson appointed him
judge of the district court of Connecticut. In 1818, he was a member of the Connecticut
constitutional convention where he served as chairman of the committee which drafted the new
state constitution.
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