James Henry Edwards, also known as JH, was the oldest child of William Jackson (WJ) Edwards and Mary Elizabeth Edwards and was named after his civil war veteran uncle "James Austin Edwards (1845 – 1935). His father and mother married on Valentines Day 1864 while WJ was still a private in the Union Army. JH was born almost nine months later to the day on November 12, 1865 in Williamson County, Illinois.

Oldest of a family of twelve children (7 boys and 5 girls), not a lot is known about JH's childhood but he must have had a good education as he went on to become a successful lawyer and businessman. After the end of the civil war it appears the Edwards family had moved from Williamson County to Oberlin, Kansas by 1869 since brother Sam H. Edwards obituary from the Republican newspaper in Caruthersville Missouri dated Thursday, April 25, 1940 indicated he was born there on February 21, 1869. Also, three of the younger Edwards children were also born in Kansas, the last being John Shield Edwards born in 1884.

However it seem logical JH or the entire Edwards family moved back to Williamson county Illinois
because JH married his first wife, Minnie Jones, who was from the nearby county of Saline, Illinois June 11, 1891. At most they lived in Illinois only a couple of years because multiple newspaper and other records indicate JH and the rest of the WJ Edwards family moved to the Caruthersville, MO / Blytheville, AR area by 1894.

After moving to Caruthersville, Missouri in 1894 JH and his brothers William A., and John S. moved to greener pastures. Blytheville, Arkansas was just beginning. Land we being cleared out and Rev. Henry T. Blythe was laying out plots that would become Blytheville.

JH became a farmer, lawyer, postmaster and businessman. His older daughters recall JH feeding his farm hands from the store. The Blytheville "75 years of Progress" book listed JH as an Alderman. The front page of the Courier Newspaper dated February 26, 1904 was titled "The Resolution of the Official Board" and it listed J. H. Edwards as the President of the Board.

JH was married to Minnie Jones for about 13 years before her death in February 1904. Two children were born from that marriage – Olive Mae Edwards and Nelle Edwards. Being a widower with two young girls JH in 1905 place his children in a girls School called "Galloway College" located in nearby Searcy, AR. Olive and Nelle continued to attend Galloway through 1912 and seemed happy at the school and had found memories of it decades later.

One of the older girls at Galloway College was Dorothy Toler. JH met Dorothy while his girls were attending school. Even though there was a 17 year difference in their ages they married July 5th, 1905 in Searcy, AR. From this marriage five surviving children were born, and one set of twins died shortly after childbirth.

JH Edwards continued to live in Blytheville with his family until his sudden death March 3, 1919 from the H1N1 influenza flu pandemic that kills 50 million to 100 million people world-wide. Shortly after JH's death the family moved to Fulton, MO so Dorothy and her family of five young children could live near her now married step-daughter Nelle Dawson.