Grand River Township – Judge David C. Edwards, farmer, stock dealer and merchant, Altona, was born in Jackson County, Missouri, December 18, 1838. His parents were Hiram and Jane (Swift) Edwards, the former a farmer by occupation and a native of Virginia. They came to Bates County when David was but four months old. He was reared on a farm and remained with his father until twenty-three years of age, when he enlisted in Company F, Sixteenth Missouri, in Parsons’ brigade, and was orderly sergeant of the company. He participated in the battles of Lone Jack, Pleasant Hill, Mansfield, Little Rock and Helena. In the winter of 1863 he was confined in the hospital at Little Rock. He surrendered at Shrevesport on June 8, 1865, and returning to Bates he resumed farming, to which he has adhered to the present time.
Judge Edwards is one of the most extensive real estate owners of the county, his home farm consisting of 500 acres of improved land, well fenced and stocked, with good buildings. He has 260 acres of timber land in the county, and owns a farm of about 100 acres near Clinton, Henry County. In addition he is the owner of a general merchandise store at Altona. In 1874 he was elected a justice of the county court, in which position he remained for five years. He is a member of Altona lodge of the A.F. and A.M. and of the chapter at Butler, as well as the Gouley Commandery at Butler. He also belongs to the Patrons of Husbandry, recognizing in that order the means of supplying a want long felt among the farming community. On January 4, 1866, he was married to Miss Bethias Sharp, daughter of John F. Sharp, one of the early pioneers of Henry County. She is a native of Henry County, and was born January 4, 1837. They have four children: Sarah Jane, Harriet E., David and Bethias.
(History of Bates County, Missouri, 1883)