The old hometown

Edwardsville main street looking east toward Wilkes Barre and the Susquehanna river

The inside of the Welsh Congregational Church of Edwardsville, PA. The wood ceiling and balcony are especially beautiful, I think. It still has the same organ pipes it had back when the Edwards family lived there and Jay played on the organ once in awhile whether he was supposed to or not.
This is the Welsh First Congregational Church where the Reverend J. Edgar Edwards was the pastor for three years. On the right is the parsonage where they lived. Jay's room was on the back and had a balcony of his own but has been since closed in.

We went to Easter Services here. After the services, a couple people approached us to wish us happy Easter and talk to us. When we gave them our names and told them why we were in Edwardsville... and in that church in particular. They asked if Jay's dad was J. Edgar Edwards and said he had married them. They called another woman over and told her who Jay was and she said his dad had married HER. they were really excited about us being there.

It was pretty funny because they also remembered Jay and made some comment about what you always hear about preacher's sons. They asked Jay which son he was and wondered if he was the oldest. He admitted he was and they sort of dropped the subject. Which gave me a clue that they might be remembering him when he lived there. They couldn't have been too far off because the first thing he said when we were walking in past the cast iron picket fence he told me it was possible to climb over it and showed me exactly where to place your foot to get over it without being impaled on it.

It was really interesting walking around town with him because he had so many memories of the place from back when he was in 5th grade about 10 years old and moved there in 1954. They lived there for three years so he was in 7th grade and 12 or 13 when they moved away. He became pretty independent and adventurous while there, riding his bike everywhere and going around town freely with his friends.

He had a lot of memories he re-remembered as we walked and drove around town and the area. So much came back to him, the porch he hid under with a friend while his mother searched all over town for him, the bar he went into with another kid to sing for quarters so he could get money for some fund drive the church was having, the Baptist Church he went to vacation bible school at.