Like many men at this period of time, David Edwards was in military service during the Revolutionary War. David was born in Rochester, Massachusetts in 1749. He married Deborah Clarke, born abt 1752, in Rochester on November 22, 1770. Together they raised a family of seven children in Rochester. Rochester is in very southeastern Massachusetts, but west of Cape Cod.

Sometime after 1790 they moved to Montpelier, the capital of Vermont. David died there in 1814. Deborah lived another 25 years in Montpelier, dying in 1839 at age 87.

My grandmother, Lillian May Whitcomb, had told me at one time that she had an ancestor on the Mayflower. As one of the earliest colonial vessels, the ship has become a cultural icon in the history of the United States. My research into her ancestry had always come up short. However, a recent discovery (2023) shows that Deborah Clarke was a Mayflower Descentdant. Her 3rd GreatGrandfather, Edward Doty, was a passenger on the Mayflower and a signer of the Mayflower Compact. an agreement that established a rudimentary government. The Mayflower landed in 1620 at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. You can find more information by clicking here on Edward Doty and/or via an online search. Grandma was right all along.

The chart at the top shows the connection from Deborah to Lillian. One can follow the connection between Deborah Clarke and Edward Doty by clicking on the parents, see AN link for Deborah and then follow the Doty parents, see AN link to Edward. One can also follow it starting at the Edward Doty link above, then repeatedly following the see AN link found among the children back until you come to Deborah.