John Edgar

John Edgar was an officer in the British Navy during the Revolutionary War. He married an American wife who was an able person and much devoted to the cause of the colonists. This attitude on the part of his wife must have greatly influenced Edgar, for we shortly find him helping his wife in her efforts to further the interest of the rebellious colonists. When knowledge of these actions came to the British authorities, John very prudently fled, reaching Kaskaskia in 1784. His rather extensive property, excepting about $12,000 which his shrewd and capable wife managed to secure, was confiscated by the British. With this money, she joined him in 1786. Edgar at once began various ventures and became very wealthy. Among other activities he was a land speculator on a vast scale. John’s taste for mackerel, perhaps acquired while serving in the British Navy, seems to have endured. One of the recurring entries in the books of Morrison, an early merchant of Kaskaskia, is “John Edgar Mackerel”.