Introduction

Biography

Edwin was the son of Ed­win T. Be­dell and Ra­chel An­na Phelps, and hus­band of Ca­ro­line Sick­les (ma­rried 1883). His grand­fa­ther raised him aft­er his par­ents’ death when he was a child.

He gra­du­at­ed with hon­ors from Hope Col­lege, Hol­land, Mi­chi­gan, in 1873. He then stu­died law at the Al­ba­ny Law School and in the of­fice of Peck­ham and Tre­main, and was ad­mit­ted to the bar in 1874.

He served as as­sist­ant to the New York state At­tor­ney Ge­ne­ral (1884–89), then joined the Re­por­ter’s office as As­sist­ant State Re­port­er. He be­came State Re­por­ter in June 1900, a po­si­tion he held the rest of his life.

As of 1900, he was liv­ing in Kin­der­hook, New York, with his wife and their daugh­ter (al­so named Ca­ro­line).

He was an ex­pert in co­py­right law, and an ac­comp­lished mu­si­cian. He was a mem­ber of the Ma­di­son Ave­nue Re­formed Church, and its or­gan­ist for 32 years.

Works

• The Church Hym­na­ry (New York: May­nard, Mer­rill, 1893)