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Monroe Edwards
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Monroe Edwards
Monroe Edwards (1808 – January 27, 1847) was an American slave trader, forger, and criminal who was the subject of a well-publicized trial and conviction in 1842. Originally from Kentucky, Edwards moved to New Orleans then settled in Texas. He smuggled slaves into Brazil in 1832 and used the proceeds to purchase land in Texas. In 1836, he was again smuggling slaves, this time into Texas. After attempting to swindle his partner out of the profits of the venture, partly with forged documents, Edwards was forced to flee the Republic of Texas to the United States. He then tried to scam money out of various abolitionists in the United States and the United Kingdom, partly with forged letters of introduction. He traveled to the United Kingdom, but his schemes were mainly unsuccessful, and he returned to the United States in mid-1841.
Edwards' largest swindle involved forged letters from cotton brokers in New Orleans, which he used to secure bank drafts for large sums that he then cashed. His fabrications caught up with him, and he was arrested and tried for the forgeries in June 1842. Convicted partly because his distinctive good looks made him memorable and easily recognizable, and partly from making the same spelling errors in his fakes, Edwards was sentenced to 10 years in prison and died in 1847 while incarcerated. Several sensational accounts of his offenses and trial were published after his death, and he was mentioned in Herman Melville's 1853 short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener".
Edwards was born in 1808 in Danville, Kentucky. His father was reported to be Amos or Moses Edwards, but his mother's name is unknown. He had a brother Amos and an uncle, Haden, who lived in Nacogdoches. Nothing is known with certainty of his childhood. As a grown man, he was considered very handsome and usually dressed fashionably. Some accounts give him the title "Colonel".
Around 1822, Edwards was sent to New Orleans to learn business from a merchant named Mr. Morgan. By the late 1820s, Morgan had established a trading post on San Jacinto Bay near Galveston in what was then Mexican Texas. Sometime after, Edwards met a slave trader and joined his new acquaintance on a smuggling trip to acquire slaves in Africa. This first effort ended when they were shipwrecked, but on a second attempt in 1832 they succeeded in smuggling slaves into Brazil. Edwards invested this venture's profits into land in Texas, where in late 1833 he established a plantation on the San Bernard River in present-day Brazoria County, Texas; he named his new home "Chenango". Unconnected with his slave trading, Edwards was arrested in 1832 as part of the Anahuac Disturbances, and was briefly imprisoned during the uprising against the Mexican government which ruled Texas.
Edwards' next efforts in smuggling involved a new partner, Christopher Dart, a lawyer from Natchez, Mississippi. In 1835, Dart invested $40,000 to buy the contracts of indentured blacks in Cuba and smuggle them into Texas as slaves. Instead of providing money for the partnership, Edwards' contribution was land certificates. At the time, Texas was a Mexican border province. In 1829, Mexico had abolished slavery as well as the importation of slaves, but gave Texas an exemption from emancipating slaves who were already in the territory. To circumvent the ban on importing slaves, traders instead reclassified them as indentured servants with 99-year contracts. The Mexican government cracked down on this practice in 1832, limiting terms of indenture to a maximum of 10 years. Edwards secured further financing from a New Orleans company named George Knight and Company and then went to Cuba where he purchased slaves.
In February 1836, Edwards landed 170 black people in Texas, taking advantage of the confusion surrounding the end of the Texas Revolution and the establishment of the independent Republic of Texas, which had not yet outlawed the importation of slaves. William Fisher, the customs collector on the Brazos River, wrote to the Texas Constitutional Convention that Edwards did not report the importation to the authorities, and Fisher went to Edwards' plantation to confront Edwards. Because of uncertainty about the legality of importing slaves, Fisher did not seize the slaves but referred the issue to the newly formed Texas Government after securing a monetary bond from Edwards. Although the new Texas Republic eventually outlawed the importation of slaves from anywhere but the United States, Edwards' landing of slaves from Cuba in early 1836 was never prosecuted. After this, Edwards also established a slave market on Galveston Bay, near present-day San Leon. In 1837, he was sued by Robert Peebles for fraud involving the sale of a slave with tuberculosis to Peebles. Peebles won the case.
Edwards then tried to change the deal with Dart. Instead of dividing the smuggled slaves between the two men, Edwards tried to keep all the slaves and instead repay the money Dart had advanced him, with some interest. Dart sued, and at the trial in March 1839, Edwards offered two forged documents claiming that Dart had sold his interest in the slaves to Edwards. In forging the documents, Edwards originally secured Dart's signature on a document written in a type of ink that could later be chemically removed. After Dart signed the document, Edwards then removed the original wording of the document and substituted a deed selling Dart's interest in the land and slaves. The documents were determined to be forgeries and on April 2, 1840, Dart was awarded $89,000 (~$2.7 million in 2024). Edwards fled the Republic of Texas to the United States.
As part of a plot to discredit both Dart and the government of Texas, Edwards persuaded some abolitionists in Cincinnati to give him money with which he would supposedly liberate the slaves on his plantation in Texas, which he no longer owned. Edwards also tried to get money from the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in New York, but its leader, Lewis Tappan, did not trust him and Edwards did not receive any money. Edwards then went to England, bearing forged letters of introduction from, among others, Daniel Webster and the American Secretary of State, John Forsyth. One of these letters was to Lord Spencer, who was so impressed he gave Edwards £250 as a loan. While in England, Edwards defrauded a company in Liverpool of about $20,000, and then used part of the funds to repay Lord Spencer. The Republic of Texas ambassador in London warned the English government against Edwards. Tappan also sent warnings, so Edwards was unable to acquire more money in England and had returned to the United States by June 1841.
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Monroe Edwards
Monroe Edwards (1808 – January 27, 1847) was an American slave trader, forger, and criminal who was the subject of a well-publicized trial and conviction in 1842. Originally from Kentucky, Edwards moved to New Orleans then settled in Texas. He smuggled slaves into Brazil in 1832 and used the proceeds to purchase land in Texas. In 1836, he was again smuggling slaves, this time into Texas. After attempting to swindle his partner out of the profits of the venture, partly with forged documents, Edwards was forced to flee the Republic of Texas to the United States. He then tried to scam money out of various abolitionists in the United States and the United Kingdom, partly with forged letters of introduction. He traveled to the United Kingdom, but his schemes were mainly unsuccessful, and he returned to the United States in mid-1841.
Edwards' largest swindle involved forged letters from cotton brokers in New Orleans, which he used to secure bank drafts for large sums that he then cashed. His fabrications caught up with him, and he was arrested and tried for the forgeries in June 1842. Convicted partly because his distinctive good looks made him memorable and easily recognizable, and partly from making the same spelling errors in his fakes, Edwards was sentenced to 10 years in prison and died in 1847 while incarcerated. Several sensational accounts of his offenses and trial were published after his death, and he was mentioned in Herman Melville's 1853 short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener".
Edwards was born in 1808 in Danville, Kentucky. His father was reported to be Amos or Moses Edwards, but his mother's name is unknown. He had a brother Amos and an uncle, Haden, who lived in Nacogdoches. Nothing is known with certainty of his childhood. As a grown man, he was considered very handsome and usually dressed fashionably. Some accounts give him the title "Colonel".
Around 1822, Edwards was sent to New Orleans to learn business from a merchant named Mr. Morgan. By the late 1820s, Morgan had established a trading post on San Jacinto Bay near Galveston in what was then Mexican Texas. Sometime after, Edwards met a slave trader and joined his new acquaintance on a smuggling trip to acquire slaves in Africa. This first effort ended when they were shipwrecked, but on a second attempt in 1832 they succeeded in smuggling slaves into Brazil. Edwards invested this venture's profits into land in Texas, where in late 1833 he established a plantation on the San Bernard River in present-day Brazoria County, Texas; he named his new home "Chenango". Unconnected with his slave trading, Edwards was arrested in 1832 as part of the Anahuac Disturbances, and was briefly imprisoned during the uprising against the Mexican government which ruled Texas.
Edwards' next efforts in smuggling involved a new partner, Christopher Dart, a lawyer from Natchez, Mississippi. In 1835, Dart invested $40,000 to buy the contracts of indentured blacks in Cuba and smuggle them into Texas as slaves. Instead of providing money for the partnership, Edwards' contribution was land certificates. At the time, Texas was a Mexican border province. In 1829, Mexico had abolished slavery as well as the importation of slaves, but gave Texas an exemption from emancipating slaves who were already in the territory. To circumvent the ban on importing slaves, traders instead reclassified them as indentured servants with 99-year contracts. The Mexican government cracked down on this practice in 1832, limiting terms of indenture to a maximum of 10 years. Edwards secured further financing from a New Orleans company named George Knight and Company and then went to Cuba where he purchased slaves.
In February 1836, Edwards landed 170 black people in Texas, taking advantage of the confusion surrounding the end of the Texas Revolution and the establishment of the independent Republic of Texas, which had not yet outlawed the importation of slaves. William Fisher, the customs collector on the Brazos River, wrote to the Texas Constitutional Convention that Edwards did not report the importation to the authorities, and Fisher went to Edwards' plantation to confront Edwards. Because of uncertainty about the legality of importing slaves, Fisher did not seize the slaves but referred the issue to the newly formed Texas Government after securing a monetary bond from Edwards. Although the new Texas Republic eventually outlawed the importation of slaves from anywhere but the United States, Edwards' landing of slaves from Cuba in early 1836 was never prosecuted. After this, Edwards also established a slave market on Galveston Bay, near present-day San Leon. In 1837, he was sued by Robert Peebles for fraud involving the sale of a slave with tuberculosis to Peebles. Peebles won the case.
Edwards then tried to change the deal with Dart. Instead of dividing the smuggled slaves between the two men, Edwards tried to keep all the slaves and instead repay the money Dart had advanced him, with some interest. Dart sued, and at the trial in March 1839, Edwards offered two forged documents claiming that Dart had sold his interest in the slaves to Edwards. In forging the documents, Edwards originally secured Dart's signature on a document written in a type of ink that could later be chemically removed. After Dart signed the document, Edwards then removed the original wording of the document and substituted a deed selling Dart's interest in the land and slaves. The documents were determined to be forgeries and on April 2, 1840, Dart was awarded $89,000 (~$2.7 million in 2024). Edwards fled the Republic of Texas to the United States.
As part of a plot to discredit both Dart and the government of Texas, Edwards persuaded some abolitionists in Cincinnati to give him money with which he would supposedly liberate the slaves on his plantation in Texas, which he no longer owned. Edwards also tried to get money from the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in New York, but its leader, Lewis Tappan, did not trust him and Edwards did not receive any money. Edwards then went to England, bearing forged letters of introduction from, among others, Daniel Webster and the American Secretary of State, John Forsyth. One of these letters was to Lord Spencer, who was so impressed he gave Edwards £250 as a loan. While in England, Edwards defrauded a company in Liverpool of about $20,000, and then used part of the funds to repay Lord Spencer. The Republic of Texas ambassador in London warned the English government against Edwards. Tappan also sent warnings, so Edwards was unable to acquire more money in England and had returned to the United States by June 1841.
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