Edward Harwood ( -) was a planter, justice of the peace, military officer and politician who represented Warwick County in the Virginia House of Delegates.^[1]

Early and family life

The second surviving son of Mary and her planter and patriot husband, Col. William Harwood (died Sept. 1780), also had four sisters (three of whom married). His father was the fourth generation to share the first name William (as did this man's elder brother, William Harwood (1737-October 1, 1795 )). Their father represented Warwick county for three decades, including in the Virginia Revolutionary Conventions before dying in September 1780.^[2] His great-grandfather, Captain Thomas Harwood, sailed to the Virginia colony in 1620 and patented land on what was then called Mulberry Island in the James River (and which became Warwick County, which is now part of Newport News, Virginia). This boy received an education appropriate to his class

Career

Despite being the younger son, Harwood came to own more slaves in Warwick County than his elder brother by the 1787 tax census. Edward owned 21 adult slaves and six enslaved teenagers (as well as a horse and 21 cattle) compared to his brother who owned 9 adult slaves and 12 enslaved teenagers (as well as five horses and 50 cattle).^[3]

Edward Harwood also continued the family's tradition of political involvement in Warwick County. He attained his first local office, that of justice of the peace, in 1770. He also led the local militia, attaining the rank colonel in 1782 and became Warwick's county lieutenant in 1788 (although his land claim based on that military service was rejected).^[4][5][6]

Following the death of his neighbor Cole Digges in 1777, Harwood was elected to serve as one of the burgesses representing Warwick County, and won re-election four times, mostly serving alongside fellow planter and the late Cole Digges' cousin, also Cole Digges.^[7]

Personal life

He married first Elizabeth Reade (1751-1777), the only child of John Reade. They had four daughters who survived their parents. After his first wife's death, Harwood married Elizabeth Burwell Hewitt. Sarah Reede Harwood married Littleton Kendall; Elizabeth Reade Harwood married Henry Lee of York County and around 1792 married Richard Hansford (who survived her and lived in Warwick County), Dorothy Harwood married Johnson Tabb, and Mary Harwood married Mr. Chapman.^[8][9]

By 1807 Harwood was living in York County. Complicating matters, another man of the same name (who also had a son named Edward) lived in Charles City County (2 counties west of Warwick County) in the late 18th century.

References