Connecting to Philip Edwards Today

The first paragraph is an excerpt from the “The Journey Continues—Author’s Update 2015” section of One April in Boston.

Today, in 2015, I often think of Philip Edwards. As a child, Phil spent a lot of time fishing with his friends. I did the very same thing. A clipping from 1917 in Ella’s scrapbook noted that he was a member of the Company H 102nd Regiment football team. I played youth football myself as a child. Phil’s U.S. Army serial number was 65385. If you add those numbers up it comes to 27. Coincidentally, as a 10-year-old, my first number in Pop Warner football was 27. It was at that age that I first read the yellowed newspaper clipping about Philip Edwards and was so moved by his farewell letter. The walking tour I offer to school children and families begins on Tremont Street by Boston Common—along the same route Phil would have marched, had he survived the war, with other members of the 26th “Yankee” Division during their “Welcome Home” parade in Boston on April 25, 1917.

The number 27 appears along my Freedom Trail tour route a number of times. Here are a few examples.

– Carved on the steps leading to the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial on Boston Common it says: “Liberty Mall Dedicated October 27 1917 To Our Soldiers And Sailors In The Great War”

– In King’s Chapel, where I have spoken to thousands of grade school students over the years, President George Washington visited on October 27, 1789. On the World War I Memorial above the doorway it says “Hamilton Coolidge Captain 94th Aero Squadron Killed in Action Over Grandpré France October 27, 1918 age 23 (the same age Phil was when he was killed in action). Paul Revere’s grandsons, who were killed in the Civil War and whose names appear on the Civil War Memorial in the church, are also honored in my book.

– Some of the crosswalk signals along the tour route begin their countdown with the number 27.

– The address 27 State Street is steps away from the Old State House (originally called the Town House) where my Edwards ancestors stood in a crowd to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 18, 1776.

The 25th Anniversary Edition of One April in Boston is the first edition to include the accurate version of what happened on Pvt. Philip Edwards’ final mission. See pages 154 and top of 155. The books arrived in April 2025 in time for the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride. On April 15, 2025, I worked with third graders from a school in Massachusetts. You’ll see a photo below of that group of students at the statue of Paul Revere. In the front row, you’ll spot a boy with glasses holding a copy of the Declaration of Independence with both hands. I gave that to him because of all the great questions he asked along the tour route. He was very bright and inquisitive and walked right next to me, at the head of the group, throughout the day. As we walked in the direction of the North End, he asked me a question completely disconnected from anything else he had previously asked. It left me speechless. He turned to me, and completely out of the blue asked “what’s 9 times 3?” He honestly said that.