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JAMES E. N. EDWARDS.
After practicing before the bar of Union county for nearly a quarter of a century, during which time he has been elected to serve in various high positions of honor and trust, the Hon. James E. N. Edwards has gained an enviable reputation in the ranks of his profession and is one of the best known men in Anna, his field of practice. Mr. Edwards is a native of the Prairie state, having been born in Pulaski county in 1854, and is a son of Ezra W. and Elizabeth (Hoopbaugh) Edwards, natives respectively of Kentucky and South Carolina.

The early education of Mr. Edwards was secured in the common schools of his native county, after leaving which his father, who was a well-known physician and surgeon of his day, desired that he should take up a professional career. He came to Union county in 1874, but it was not until 1888 that he was admitted to the bar, after having studied law in the offices of M. J. Inscore. Since that time he has carried on a general practice alone, and few in this section have met with such conspicuous success. In a number of noted cases he has proven himself one of the ablest practitioners of this part of the county, and his clientele has been large and steady. A logical and forceful speaker, Mr. Edwards early entered the political field, and soon convinced his fellow townsmen of his ability to fill public office, and was sent to the legislature on four different occasions, his last term expiring in 1903, since which time he has resided in Anna, where for five terms he has served as city attorney, being the present incumbent of that important position. While a member of the legislature he was fearless in championing the rights of his constituents, promoting several successful bills of an important nature and serving on the judiciary and several, other committees. He has been active in his support of Republican principles, and is justly considered one of the able leaders of his party in this section of the state. His fraternal connections are with the Knights of Pythias, in which he has a number of warm, personal friends, who in their friendship only echo the sentiments of a wide number of acquaintances in the professional and civic fields. Mr. Edwards is the owner of a valuable tract of one hundred acres of finely-cultivated land in Pulaski county, not far from the city of Anna, and this land he has rented out, his professional and public duties demanding all of his time and attention. All movements tending to be of benefit to the community have received his hearty co-operation

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and support, and the enterprises with which his name has been associated have always been of a progressive nature. Mr. Edwards was married in Anna, Illinois, in 1891, to Miss Mary Winters, who is a native of this county, and one daughter has been born to this union: Miss Elizabeth, now eighteen years of age, who resides with her parents.