John Edwards Holbrook

John Edwards Holbrook (December 31, 1796 – September 8, 1871) was an American zoologist, herpetologist, physician, and naturalist, born in Beaufort, South Carolina, the son of Silas Holbrook, a teacher, and Mary Edwards. Although Holbrook's memoir, written by his medical partner, and his tombstone both give the date 1794 for his birth, this is incorrect. Holbrook received his A.B. degree from Brown University in 1815, and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1818. In 1827, he married Harriott Pinckney Rutledge (1802–1863), granddaughter of John Rutledge and a member of the Middleton-Rutledge-Pinckney family.

He provided the first comprehensive illustrated account of North American Amphibians & Reptiles in the two editions of his North American Herpetology; or, A Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. The first edition in four volumes (1836–1840) is very rare because Holbrook attempted to destroy all copies in a bonfire in his backyard over unfavorable criticism of the colored plates. Because of its rarity, the first edition has been digitized and made freely available by the Biodiversity Heritage Library. The second edition in five volumes (1842) was better received and is still an important benchmark reference work. Among the new species which he described in these works are the brown water snake (Nerodia taxispilota), the brown snake (Storeria dekayi) and the ornate chorus frog (Pseudacris ornata).

John Edwards

Johnny Reid "John" Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American former politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.

Edwards defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in North Carolina's 1998 Senate election. Towards the end of his single six-year term, he sought the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2004 presidential election. He eventually became the 2004 Democratic candidate for vice president, the running mate of presidential nominee Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Following Kerry's loss to incumbent President George W. Bush, Edwards began working full-time at the One America Committee, a political action committee he established in 2001, and was appointed director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. He was also a consultant for Fortress Investment Group LLC.

John Edwards (Wisconsin politician)

John Edwards (September 15, 1831 – March 11, 1891), a politician, was an American, who was born in England.

Born in England, Edwards moved with his family in 1832 to Hazel Green, Wisconsin. He went to California; he then moved to Port Edwards, Wisconsin, where he was a lumberman. He served as school treasurer, chairman of the Town of Port Edwards, and chairman of the Wood County, Wisconsin Board of Supervisors 1884-1885. He served in the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Democrat 1891. He died in Madison, Wisconsin while still in office.

Notes

John Edwards (American Civil War sailor)

John Edwards (1831 – December 27, 1902) was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Biography

Born in 1831 in Providence, Rhode Island, Edwards was still living in that city when he joined the Navy. He served during the Civil War as a captain of the top on the USS Lackawanna. At the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, Lackawanna engaged the CSS Tennessee at close range and Edwards, acting as second captain of an artillery gun, was severely wounded in the face and arm by flying debris. Refusing to leave his post, he instead took over for the first captain and continued to man the gun for the remainder of the battle. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor four months later, on December 31, 1864.

Edwards's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

Edwards died on December 27, 1902, at age 70 or 71 and was buried in Cranston, Rhode Island.