INTRODUCTION

My interest in the Edzard line has a long history.  First, Edzard is not a very familiar surname.  And so I have always thought the ancestry line would be an easy find.  That has not been the case.  For 25 years, I have been compiling information.  Of course the critical source has been the internet.  Online sources have allowed me access to documents in England and Germany.  Searching sources has not always been easy and many translations from German have been conducted.  The persistence has paid off and I present to you the reader, a good history of the Edzard family.  I am sure there are other Edzard lines…but not many.  I will start as far back as is possible and present each ancestor as an individual.  As much information as could be found is included.  I am sure there is more – I just have not seen it!  Before I start, I present to you my lineage from me to the first known Edzard…13 generations!

Daniel Kenneth Drost

Mother Betty Lou Finnie

Grandfather Thomas James Finnie

GGrandfather Edzzard Gibbs Finnie

GGGrandfather Thomas James Finnie

GGGGrandmother Nancy Lightfoot Edzard

GGGGGrandfather William Edzard

GGGGGGrandfather James Edzard Sr.

GGGGGGGrandfather Esdras Theodore Edzard Sr.

GGGGGGGGrandfather Johann Esdras Edzard

GGGGGGGGGrandfather Esdras Edzard

GGGGGGGGGGrandfather Jodocus Edzardi

GGGGGGGGGGGrandfather Edzard Ludophi

The origin of the Edzard surname is historically associated with the Protestant Reformation, specifically in the region of northeast Germany.  The time was the early 16th century, a transitional era between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.  Edzard I (1461-1528), Count of East Frisia, was the most recognizable man of the day who was named Edzard.  There were a few others named Edzard before him in his ancestral line but Edzard I was most noteworthy.  His fame was not only defined by his rule over East Frisia and resistance to the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I.  Edzard I was a follower and proponent of Martin Luther and therefore a supporter of the Protestant Reformation.

Edzard I (top) and Martin Luther (bottom)

Martin Luther (1483-1546) initiated the Protestant Reformation when he questioned the practice of the Roman Catholic Church and the pope beginning in 1517.  Luther proclaimed that eternal life was dependent on belief and faith in Jesus Christ as the son of God.  Gifts or payments to the church for salvation and other good deeds were not the path, according Luther, to Heaven.  By 1530, Luther’s church had become the basis for the future of Christianity separate from the Roman Catholic Church.  This church would soon be officially known as the Lutheran Church and was located in Wittenberg.  And therefore, Wittenberg became the central location for Lutheran theology.