BIRTH: 13 Dec 1770, Bedford, Virginia Colony, North America
DEATH: 9 Dec 1824, Crawford County, Missouri, USA
FATHER: John Ewing (1747–1803)
MOTHER: Martha Baker (1754–1812)
SPOUSE: William Coner Edgar Sr (1766–1846)
When Parmelia Jane Ewing was born on December 13, 1770, in Bedford, Virginia, her father, John, was 22, and her mother, Martha, was 16. She married William Coner Edgar on June 27, 1789, in her hometown. They had 11 children in 27 years. She died on December 9, 1824, at the age of 53.
The Life of Parmelia Jane Ewing
A Frontier Woman of Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri
Parmelia Jane Ewing was born on 13 December 1770 in the wooded hills of Bedford County, Virginia, a place where the Blue Ridge Mountains softened into rolling farmland and Scots‑Irish families carved homesteads out of the wilderness. She was the daughter of John Ewing and Martha Baker, members of a large, tight‑knit frontier clan whose roots stretched back to Ulster and the Presbyterian settlements of colonial America.
Parmelia grew up in a world shaped by hard work, faith, and kinship. The Ewings were known for their independence and their willingness to push into new territory, and Parmelia would carry that spirit with her throughout her life. She learned the skills expected of a frontier daughter — spinning, tending livestock, preparing food, and managing a household that often included younger siblings, extended family, and neighbors in need.
A Marriage in Bedford County
On 27 June 1789, at the age of nineteen, Parmelia married William Coner Edgar, a young man born in 1766 whose own origins remain partly hidden by the gaps in early Virginia records. Their marriage bond survives in the Bedford County courthouse books, signed by John Ewing as surety — a father standing behind his daughter as she began her own household.
The ceremony was performed by William Leftwich, a well‑known minister in the region. Parmelia and William began their married life in the same community where they had been raised, surrounded by Ewings, Bakers, Dillons, and other families who would later accompany them west.
The Move to Kentucky
Sometime in the 1790s, Parmelia and William joined the great wave of migration into Kentucky, settling in Logan County, a frontier region of rich soil and scattered homesteads. Here, Parmelia bore many of her children — including Mary “Polly” Edgar and William Coner Edgar Jr., born in 1804.
Life in Logan County demanded resilience. Parmelia managed a household that grew steadily in size, with children ranging from infants to teenagers, and she did so in a place where neighbors were miles apart and every task — from grinding corn to making soap — required labor and skill. Yet the Ewings and Edgars were part of a familiar migration network, and Parmelia was surrounded by kin who had made the same journey.
A Mother on the Frontier
By the time of the 1820 census, Parmelia was the matriarch of a large family. Her children included:
- Mourning Edgar
- Mary “Polly” Edgar
- William Coner Edgar Jr.
- Vicianus Edgar
- Several younger sons and daughters whose names survive through census reconstruction and Missouri records
Parmelia’s days were filled with the rhythms of frontier life — tending gardens, preserving food, caring for children, and supporting William as he farmed and prepared for yet another move west.
The Final Journey: Missouri
Around 1823–1824, Parmelia and her family left Kentucky and traveled to Crawford County, Missouri, part of the expanding American frontier. The journey was long and difficult, and Parmelia arrived in Missouri at a time when the region was still sparsely settled.
She did not live long in her new home. Parmelia died on 9 December 1824, only months after the family’s arrival. She was fifty‑three years old. No grave marker survives, but her death is recorded in family histories and local accounts. Her passing left William a widower with children still at home, and it marked the end of a life spent in constant movement — from Virginia to Kentucky to Missouri, always at the edge of settlement.
Legacy of Parmelia Jane Ewing
Parmelia’s legacy lives on through the large Edgar family she helped raise. Her children and grandchildren became farmers, pioneers, and community builders in Missouri and beyond. Though she left few written records, the shape of her life is preserved in the migrations she made, the family she nurtured, and the frontier communities she helped establish.
She stands as a representative of the thousands of women whose labor, courage, and endurance made westward expansion possible — women whose names appear only in marriage bonds, census tallies, and family stories, yet whose influence shaped generations.
Parmelia Jane Ewing’s story is one of quiet strength, deep family ties, and the unrecorded heroism of frontier life.
Parents
FATHER: John Ewing (1747–1803)
MOTHER: Martha Baker (1754–1812)Married
William Coner Edgar Sr (1766–1846) on 27 Jun 1789 in Bedford, Virginia
Children
- Mourning Edgar (1788–aft. 1839) married William R. Parrish (1782–1861)
- John Edgar (1790–1784)
- Mary Edgar (1795–1872) married John N Potter (1783-1864)
- Elizabeth Edgar (1800–?)
- William Coner Edgar Jr (1804–1880) married Charlotte F Dillon (1811–1880)
- Vicianus Edgar (1805–Aft. 1870) married Adelaide —- (1812–?)
- Sara Edgar (1807–?)
- James Edgar (1810–?)
- Nancy Edgar (1812–?)
- Permelia Edgar (1815–?)
- —- Edgar (?–?) a son (perhaps Lewis Edgar)
Documents
- Birth Records
- Wedding records
- Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940 > Name: Parmelia Ewing; Gender: Female; Marriage Date: 27 Jun 1789; Marriage Place: Bedford, Virginia; Spouse: William Edgar; FHL Film Number: 30591; Reference ID: pg 220
- Death records
Relation of Parmelia Jane Ewing to Karen Edgar: 4th great-grandmother
Page last updated May 18, 2026
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