William R. Edge, a prosperous citizen of this county, has passed through many vicissitudes in the years of his life. He is the son of Joseph and Margaret (Flint) Edge, the former born in Wilkes county in 1802, and died in Meriwether county in 1886; his father, Nehemiah Edge, a South Carolinian, was one of the earliest settlers of Wilkes county. Here in 1824 William R. was born and where he passed his boyhood, obtaining such education as he was able to do in his country home. Later he began working for himself at the rate of seven dollars per month, at which rate he worked for three years; then he was overseer for a time, after which he went into the milling business. He fell a victim to the "gold fever", and spent some time in California in search of that much-sought mineral. He served also through the war, enlisting in 1862 in Company B, First Georgia cavalry, under Capt. J.W. Trammell; he was in the battle at Philadelphia and was in all the engagements during the memorable "march to the sea," being in those forces before Sherman all the way. Since the war he has been engaged in several different kinds of business, but has been especially successful in farming, as his large and beautiful and well-kept plantation on the Flint river bears witness. Mr. Edge married in 1855 his wife, Miss Catherine Boyd, being the daughter of Milton and Jane (Douglass) Boyd, of South Carolina, who came to Georgia in 1830. One daughter, Emma C., was born to Mr. and Mrs. Edge; she is now the wife of W.P. Lovelace. Mrs. Edge died in 1875 and in 1877 Mr. Edge married Mrs. Amanda (Miller) Knowles, a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Lovelace) Miller, of Wilkes county. Mrs. Edge is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church; her husband is a member of the Masonic fraternity.