Article: Bob Edwards ================================== KYGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data is freely distributed to entities as long as this message remains on all reproduced material. Commercial use of this data requires permission from the submitting author before downloading. ================================== Thomas Hembrey, thembrey@aol.com Mary Yoder, mayoder@davesworld.net Webmasters, ATHS County Coordinators, KYGenWeb Project ====== Article about Bob Edwards By Mary M. Olson, Ancestral Trails Historical Society Family research is an endeavor which is sought after by individuals most of us would think have no time for such pursuits. One such individual is a mild and congenial man named Bob Edwards who was born and raised in Louisville, KY. Bob is nationally known for his excellent program, Morning Edition, which he hosts as part of National Public Radio's broadcasting agenda. Robert Alan Edwards was born 16 May 1947 the second son of Joseph Richard Edwards, Sr. and Loretta Fuchs. His older brother, Joseph Richard Edwards, Jr., was born 29 Jun 1942. A city boy who knew he was descended from rural Kentuckians, Bob spent his first 22 years in one house in a working class neighborhood. A 1965 graduate of St. Xavier High School, Bob worked his way through night school in four years to graduate in 1969 with a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville. Edwards' radio career began during this time at a small station, WHEL-AM 1570, in New Albany, Indiana where he worked from the fall of 1968 until the fall of 1969. The call letters for that station have since changed. Bob might still be living in Louisville if not for the welcome letter from Uncle Sam stating he was to become a member of the U.S. Army. Edwards did the draftee's minimum -- basic training at Fort Knox, ten months making training videos at Fort Gordon, GA and the second year producing and anchoring TV and radio news for the American Forces Korea Network (AFKN) in Seoul. Edwards states, "I cursed the army every day, but the truth is that I learned a lot and had a hell of a good time. If I had it to do all over again, I'd be tempted to volunteer for AFVN (American Forces Vietnam Network). I'm not one for covering war, but as a journalist, I should have checked it out." After the service, Edwards moved to Washington, DC to make use of the GI Bill education benefits and earned a master's degree in broadcast journalism from The American University. During that time, he also worked for an all-news CBS affiliate, WTOP-AM, as a weekend and evening anchorman. Bob Edwards joined National Public Radio in 1974 as co-host of NPR's evening newsmagazine All Things Considered. Later, in November 1979, he became host of the daily newsmagazine, Morning Edition, when it began broadcasting. This program was so notable it received the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and the George Polk Award its very first year. Conducting more that 800 interviews a year, Edwards addresses such topics as the arts, economics, education, entertainment, international affairs, labor, politics and sports. He also published a book in 1993, Fridays with Red, based on his nearly 12-year radio association with Red Barber, a sports broadcasting legend. Their conversations covered not only sports, but topics ranging from flowers to human nature. For his outstanding contribution to public radio, Edwards received the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1984. The citation accompanying the award read, "Every station that carries Morning Edition can attest to Bob Edwards' extraordinary rapport with listeners. . . . In terms of his editorial leadership and on-air performance, Bob has created a standard for the industry." Bob won his first Gabriel Award in 1987, from the National Catholic Association of Broadcasters, for a story entitled "Bill of Sale: A Black Heritage," that aired on Morning Edition. His second came in 1990 for his five-part series about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, "Born Drunk." His report, "The Changing of the Guard - The Republican Revolution," earned Edwards the prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for excellence in radio journalism in 1995. In addition to these accomplishments, Edwards is national vice president of the AFTRA, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Bob Edwards is humble about his achievements, but his enduring presence on such a highly-acclaimed program attests to his talent and abilities. His program flows well without being argumentive or negative in content. For anyone in the Elizabethtown area wishing to listen to Morning Edition, it can be heard on 90.9 FM from rush hour until noon. Bob is an enthusiastic family researcher when he has an extra moment. Why does family research interest him? He puts it this way, "I had always been curious and had asked questions of my father and his siblings, but they knew next to nothing. In fact, they weren't the least bit curious. When my father was dying in 1991, I concluded I would just have to go to libraries and courthouses and find out for myself." "My dad said that his mother claimed to be from Grahamton and his father claimed to be from Gravel Switch and that each would charge the other was making it up because there couldn't be a town with such a hick name. Gravel Switch is in Marion County and Grahamton [often pronounced Gray-hamp-ton], one of the towns obliterated by the building of Fort Knox, [is in Meade County]. My grandmother's parents [Marion & Delia Berry Metcalfe] are buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery. She has a headstone, but he does not." "Genealogy has the unusual power to make me feel connections to people that were strangers to me for most of my 51 years. While most of them lived lives far removed from me in time, distance, customs, lifestyle, occupation and sometimes religion, I still carry their blood. The choices and decisions each of them made had some effect on my being born and being the sort of person I am." "First, a lot of Europeans had to decide for a variety of reasons to make the hazardous trek to the new world. Then later generations of Virginians and Marylanders felt compelled to try a new life in Kentucky. Whether moved by economics, religion or family circumstances, each migration tells me something about the values of my ancestors. I also happen to LOVE history, and genealogy personalizes history for me by showing me the roles my ancestors played in the events of their time. It also makes me realize how precious our American liberties should be to all of us. I have an ancestor who left Ireland because Cromwell was persecuting Catholics. But I also have a Huguenot ancestor kicked out of France because he was NOT a Catholic. My Metcalfe and Hayden ancestors couldn't openly practice Catholicism in Maryland, weren't allowed to hold office and were double-taxed! So, they went off to Kentucky and established the state's first Catholic parish at Loretto. I've been lucky to make the acquaintance of ancestors, famous and infamous. I'm not one of those people searching for royalty or wealth on the family tree. In fact, I almost prefer to find the occasional scoundrel because, sorry to say, it's usually more interesting than finding decent citizens who raised their children right and did all the things they were supposed to do. I have a direct ancestor named Rev. Francis Doughty who managed to tick off just about everyone he was ever associated with. He was kicked out England, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia and Maryland. A guy like that would make a great movie. I'm proud to be descended from Captain Thomas Berry who served at Valley Forge and often paid his men out of his own pocket. I'm proud of William Kincheloe, who served in the Revolution with two of his sons (all SIX of his sons served in the War of 1812). He built one of those early Kentucky "stations," Fort Kincheloe, which was burned to the ground by Indians who killed and/or captured the inhabitants (William was away at the time). Thereafter it was known as "Burnt Station." So having survived a war and eluding an Indian massacre, how do you suppose he died? He was killed by a falling tree on his own property in Nelson County, Kentucky. Not all of my ancestors were warriors. The last of them to arrive from Europe was a great-grandfather on my mother's side. He came here from Germany in 1870 because he was dodging the draft for the Franco-Prussian War." "I forgot to mention Lincoln. I'm descended from the same Hanks ancestors. His grandmother, Lucy, had several daughters by different men before she married. No one knows for sure the identity of the father of Nancy Hanks. Nancy was Lucy's first daughter and Nancy was the mother of Lincoln. A few years after Nancy was born, a pregnant Lucy was brought up on fornication charges in the Mercer County Court. The charges were dropped when she married Henry Sparrow. The baby she was carrying was a girl, Polly Sparrow, and I'm descended from her. Polly would have been Nancy's half-sister, so Abe and I are cousins." "One ancestor who fascinates me is James Whitehouse. He was born in east London and came to America as a 14-year-old indentured servant. I'd like to know if he voluntarily indentured himself to pay for his passage or whether he was kidnapped and sold to some Virginian or whether his father sold him to make a few shillings to pay the bills. Once he got here, he was taken to court by his master because he kept running away. Once he was grown and had served his time, he was 23 with a wife and three children and was working as a tenant farmer. Longing for his own place, he and his family joined a party led by the famous Simon Kenton and drifted down the Ohio on a longboat, settling in Kentucky. Quirks like many of these make genealogy fun." Bob and I (Mary M. Olson) are second cousins on the Metcalfe side of the family. He and I are alike in feeling a connection to ancestors we have never met. I might add it applies to living relatives today as well. All I had to know is that Bob was my cousin, and I felt an immediate bond. Maybe that is what genealogy is really about, a connection of spirit and being in common with others. I know I am very proud to have Bob as a kindred soul. We have an ongoing contention about the name of Marion Francis Metcalfe, our common great-grandfather. Bob seems to think his name should be listed as Francis Marion and I'm for the Marion Francis version. We both enjoy the sport of discovering which way his name really goes. It's all part of the fun. Ahnentafel for Robert "Bob" Alan Edwards of National Public Radio's "Morning Edition." 1. Robert Alan EDWARDS, b. 16 May 1947, Louisville, KY. 2. Joseph Richard EDWARDS, Sr., b. 01 Nov 1912, Louisville, Jefferson Co., KY; md. 15 Apr 1939, Louisville, KY; d. 05 Mar 1991, Louisville, KY. 3. Loretto Bernardine FUCHS, b. 13 Feb 1915, Louisville, KY; still living (1998). 4. Joseph Thomas EDWARDS, b. 01 Mar 1878, Gravel Switch, Marion Co., KY; orphaned as a baby; md. 31 May 1904, Louisville, KY; served in Spanish-American War; d. 06 Feb 1944, Louisville, KY. 5. Mary Jane "Mollie" METCALFE, b. 11 Aug 1879, Grahamton, Meade Co., KY; d. 07 Mar 1967, Louisville, KY. 6. Joseph George FUCHS, b. 24 Aug 1884, Louisville, KY; md. 12 Jun 1907, Louisville, KY; d. 19 Oct 1976, Louisville, KY. 7. Frances Elnora BOKLAGE, b. 22 Mar 1892, Louisville, KY; d. 01 Mar 1920, Louisville, KY. 8. Benjamin EDWARDS, b. 05 Jan 1833, Mercer Co., KY; md. 08 Jun 1870, Marion Co., KY; d. KY. 9. Mary "Polly" ROLLER, b. 1843, Marion Co., KY; d. Dec 1880, Boyle Co., KY. 10. Francis Marion METCALFE, b. 04 Aug 1855, New Haven, Nelson Co., KY; md. 25 Sep 1877, Grahamton, KY; d. 23 May 1932, Louisville, KY. 11. Mary Delia BERRY, b. 27 Jun 1858, Meade Co., KY; d. 30 Dec 1905, Hardin Co., KY. 12. Joseph Maria FUCHS, b. 1846/47, Einsiedeln, Switzerland; md. 08 Nov 1877, Louisville, KY; d. 09 Jan 1904, Louisville, KY. 13. Anna E. ANDRES, b. 08 Oct 1849, Mariastein, Austria?; d. 28 Jan 1941, Louisville, KY. 14. Frank William BOKLAGE, b. 1848, Dinklage, Germany; md. 05 Nov 1872, Louisville, KY; d. 15 May 1917, Louisville, KY. 15. Margaret J. BURKINKLE, b. 21 Jun 1855, Louisville, KY; d. 14 Feb 1936, Louisville, KY. 16. Maston EDWARDS, b. 10 Mar 1804, Mercer Co., KY; md. 16 Jan 1828, Mercer Co., KY; d. 07 Jun 1888, Boyle Co., KY. 17. Jane WHITEHOUSE, b. 20 May 1811; d. 09 Jun 1878, KY. 18. Maston ROLLER, b. 1817, Marion Co., KY; md. 1837, Marion Co., KY; d. 1855, Marion Co., KY. 19. Edna _?_ , b. 1821, Marion Co., KY; d. after 1870, Marion Co., KY. 20. William Pius METCALF, b. 17 Feb 1822, Nelson Co., KY; md. 02 Oct 1849, LaRue Co., KY; d. 09 Dec 1901, KY. 21. Jane WOODS, b. 17 Feb 1832, d. 29 Aug 1888, Hardin Co., KY. 22. Enoch BERRY, b. 16 Sep 1828, Hardin Co., KY; md. 27 Mar 1853, Meade Co., KY; d. 06 Jan 1877, KY. 23. Mary Elizabeth REESOR, b. 26 Jun 1825, Hardin Co., KY; d. 06 Apr 1874, Meade Co., KY. 26. William ANDRES, b. 12 May 1815, Austria?; d. 21 Jan 1883, Louisville, KY. 27. Barbara BONN, b. 22 Nov 1822, Austria?; d. 21 Jan 1903, Louisville, KY. 30. Herman BURKINKLE, b. 12 May 1832, Dinklage, Germany; md. 19 Nov 1854, Louisville, KY; d. 09 Sep 1866, Louisville, KY. 31. Elizabeth GIESKE, b. 01 Jun 1827, Germany?; d. 22 Sep 1898, Louisville, KY. ??