Early Life
Gaines was born in Culpeper County, Virginia on March 20, 1777. He was named after his greatuncle Edmund Pendleton, who was the political leader of Virginia during the Revolution. Edmund's father, James, had been captain of a company in the American forces during the Revolutionary War, and after the war his family moved to North Carolina where his father became a state representative. He enlisted in the army in 1799 and was a first lieutenant by 1807.
Read more about this topic: Edmund P. Gaines
Famous quotes related to early life:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)