Person talk:William Edmiston (5)

The Overview

Currently, the Overview simply uses Draper's mini biography of William Edmiston. Draper focused on Col Edmiston primarily because of his role as second in command under William Campbell at King's Mountain. The biography is a good overview of Col Edmiston's life, but there's a great deal more that could be said about him. One of the key events in his life is his election to the Committee for Safety in Washington County at the opening of the Revolution; in this capacity he was a signatory to the Fincastle Resolution. It is at this time that he can be seen as being accepted as a potential peer among the frontier aristocracy (including, for example, William Campbell, and others prominent in the community). His militia rank at the time was "Lieutenant", but as his role in the community increased, so did his rank. While the pinnacle of his military career was undoubtedly his participation in King's Mountain, his social prominence is probably better seen in his designation as one of the "Gentlemen Justices" when Washington County formed. From this it should be realized that there is considerably more that could be said about Col Edmondson, and his role in the frontier community. Something for a later day, perhaps. Q 21:52, 15 March 2009 (EDT)

Military Service [26 January 2009]

Both Draper's "Heros of Kings Mountain", and Source:Thwaites and Kellogg, 1905 (based on the Draper MSC), provide considerable information about William Edmiston's military career based on accounts of his contemporaries. Their information conflicts to a considerable degree from that provided in the cited DAR application. The DAR application may have drawn on information for another William Edmiston. Q 20:48, 25 January 2009 (EST)

Original Home [19 February 2009]

The photograph of William Edmiston's home shows it to be very well preserved. It would be useful to have something on the homes history, and anything available on its restoration, current use and ownership. Also would be useful to get information on the photograph itself: date, photographer, etc. Is it on the National Historic Properties list? Q 15:36, 26 January 2009 (EST)

Merger and Unmerge [25 February 2009]

This article has undergone a series of merges, renames, and unmerges, primarily related to the spelling of the surname. The original article used the "Edmiston" spelling which is consistent with the usage in records for this person in Washington County. The merger combined the "Edmiston" article with an earlier article which used the "Edmonson" spelling. It appears that one particular family line adopted this spelling proably during the 19th century, and that spelling was carried backwards to preceeding generations. William Edmiston is an historical person, for whom there is ample documentation demonstrating that he at least used the Edmiston spelling, as did his immediate ancestors. Other lines of descent from him use a combination of "Edmiston" and "EdmonDson". Their seems to be a predominant usage of "Edmondson" among living descendants, though some also use "Edmonds" and "Edmond", as well (apparently) as "Edmonson".

As a result the article has been "unmerged" to restore its original title, and to preserve the record of its historical evolution. Most recent additions to the article, under the "Edmonson" title should have been retained, though the intermediate history of those changes has, regrettably, been lost in the process. The process also leaves intact the article previously entitled "William Edmonson". Since there may be merit in combining these two articles, since they deal with the same person. The article name, however, should remain "William Edmiston (5)". Q 19:22, 19 February 2009 (EST)

After reviewing land survey records for the area (see Southwest Virginia Project, Early Settlers:Settlement Summary by Person), I find that the "Edmonson" variant was more common than I previously thought. I believe that "Edmiston" is still the preferred usage, for this person, but he may have been referred to on occasion as "Edmonson". Q 19:13, 25 February 2009 (EST)