COALBURG, W.Va. -- In the closing decades of the 19th century, Bellefleur, the two-story home with wraparound verandas on an eight-acre estate overlooking the Kanawha River at Coalburg, was best known as the residence of pioneer coal operator William Henry Edwards.

But the rural estate was also the place where Edwards produced definitive works on the butterflies of North America, and conducted groundbreaking studies on polymorphism and natural selection among butterflies.

Edwards' work has been linked to the work of Alfred Russel<co > Wallace, Henry Walter Bates and other naturalists credited with developing the theory of evolution, brought to international attention 150 years ago this week, when Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" was published.

Edwards, a New York lawyer, moved to Kanawha County in 1852 and soon began opening coal mines along Paint Creek and the Kanawha River. In 1856, he built the first factory to extract oil from cannel coal, and then branched into railroading and towboats by the end of the Civil War.

While he did much to develop the Kanawha Valley as a coal-mining center, making a personal fortune as an industrialist, it was his role as a naturalist that truly captured his imagination.

Edwards may have enjoyed his role as an entrepreneur, but he was infatuated with butterflies.

A 1988 article in the New Yorker described him as "the grandfather of American lepidopterology," or the study of butterflies, and credited him with scientifically describing or discovering "more North American butterflies than anyone had before, or has since."

An 1886 Rochester, N.Y., newspaper article identified Edwards as "the principal authority on butterflies in the United States, who is said to be to butterflies what Audubon was to birds."

His three-volume work "The Butterflies of North America," was a 30-year labor of love and painstaking research, most of it done at Bellefleur. Collectors from across the continent sent him butterfly eggs and caterpillars to hatch and propagate, allowing him to observe the insects through all their growth stages. His daughter, Anne Edwards Smith, painted the painstakingly authentic color plates of the insects pictured in the guidebooks.

Edwards' love of nature and discovery was whetted during an extended voyage up the Amazon River with his uncle during the 1840s. He wrote about the adventure, as well as the birds, wildlife and insects he encountered, in the 1847 travel book, "Voyage Up the River Amazon."

British naturalists and evolution theory luminaries Alfred Russel Wallace and Henry Walter Bates credited the book with inspiring them to set off on an extended collecting expedition to Brazil in 1848.

Edwards was in London in 1848 to secure funding for a Kanawha Valley mining venture, and had a chance meeting with Wallace and Bates before their departure, allowing Edwards to give the young naturalists a first-hand account of his Amazonian travels. He gave them advice on where to base their expedition and gave them letters of introduction to Brazilian government officials, civic leaders and merchants.

COALBURG, W.Va. -- In the closing decades of the 19th century, Bellefleur, the two-story home with wraparound verandas on an eight-acre estate overlooking the Kanawha River at Coalburg, was best known as the residence of pioneer coal operator William Henry Edwards.

But the rural estate was also the place where Edwards produced definitive works on the butterflies of North America, and conducted groundbreaking studies on polymorphism and natural selection among butterflies.

Edwards' work has been linked to the work of Alfred Russel<co > Wallace, Henry Walter Bates and other naturalists credited with developing the theory of evolution, brought to international attention 150 years ago this week, when Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" was published.

Edwards, a New York lawyer, moved to Kanawha County in 1852 and soon began opening coal mines along Paint Creek and the Kanawha River. In 1856, he built the first factory to extract oil from cannel coal, and then branched into railroading and towboats by the end of the Civil War.

While he did much to develop the Kanawha Valley as a coal-mining center, making a personal fortune as an industrialist, it was his role as a naturalist that truly captured his imagination.

Edwards may have enjoyed his role as an entrepreneur, but he was infatuated with butterflies.

A 1988 article in the New Yorker described him as "the grandfather of American lepidopterology," or the study of butterflies, and credited him with scientifically describing or discovering "more North American butterflies than anyone had before, or has since."

An 1886 Rochester, N.Y., newspaper article identified Edwards as "the principal authority on butterflies in the United States, who is said to be to butterflies what Audubon was to birds."

His three-volume work "The Butterflies of North America," was a 30-year labor of love and painstaking research, most of it done at Bellefleur. Collectors from across the continent sent him butterfly eggs and caterpillars to hatch and propagate, allowing him to observe the insects through all their growth stages. His daughter, Anne Edwards Smith, painted the painstakingly authentic color plates of the insects pictured in the guidebooks.

Edwards' love of nature and discovery was whetted during an extended voyage up the Amazon River with his uncle during the 1840s. He wrote about the adventure, as well as the birds, wildlife and insects he encountered, in the 1847 travel book, "Voyage Up the River Amazon."

British naturalists and evolution theory luminaries Alfred Russel Wallace and Henry Walter Bates credited the book with inspiring them to set off on an extended collecting expedition to Brazil in 1848.

Edwards was in London in 1848 to secure funding for a Kanawha Valley mining venture, and had a chance meeting with Wallace and Bates before their departure, allowing Edwards to give the young naturalists a first-hand account of his Amazonian travels. He gave them advice on where to base their expedition and gave them letters of introduction to Brazilian government officials, civic leaders and merchants.

Edwards, Wallace and Bates continued to correspond over the years, sharing adventures, research and publications.

"It is clear that Edwards, Bates and Wallace stimulated and encouraged one another in their thinking and work on evolutionary studies over a period of 40 years," wrote W.C. Sorenson in his 1995 book "Brethren of the Net: American Entomology 1840-1880."

According to that book, Edwards played a central role in discovering the extent of polymorphism -- the regular occurrence of two or more distinct forms within a single species -- among North American butterflies. While conducting his studies, Edwards "discovered new techniques for raising and experimenting on polymorphic species as subjects for studying natural selection."

While Charles Darwin circled the globe aboard the HMS Beagle in the 1830s and had been working on the theory of natural selection since 1838, Wallace arrived at the same theory independently after conducting his own field research. In 1858 he sent an outline of the theory, as he summarized it, to Darwin for review. Wallace's work is generally credited with prompting Darwin to move forward with the publication of "On the Origin of Species," which he had been reluctant to release pending further verification, in November 1859.

Many historians believe Wallace did not receive the appropriate amount of credit for his work on evolution, but the naturalist himself was not concerned about getting his share of the scientific spotlight. In his writings, he seemed pleased for Darwin and his success, and that the theory they both had a hand in formulating was finally being seriously considered by the scientific community. Wallace routinely referred to matters involving natural selection issues as "Darwinism."

In an 1889 letter to Edwards, Wallace praised the West Virginian for a "very interesting and convincing paper on the Highest Butterflies," which he said he had forwarded to the British publication "Nature." Wallace also asked Edwards if he had received a copy his new book, "Darwinism," which he had asked his publisher to forward.

Wallace visited Edwards at Coalburg in 1887, traveling by train from Washington, D.C. In a letter sent just prior to his arrival, now a part of the State Archives collection, Wallace cautioned Edwards "as it is close to 40 years since we met, I may have somewhat altered in personal appearance."

Late in life, Edwards became a student of the life and works of William Shakespeare, and wrote histories of both his family and the coal company he founded. He died at his Coalburg home in 1909.

His lone son, William Seymour Edwards, expanded his father's coal business and is credited with bringing the first gas lighting system to Charleston. He was elected to the House of Delegates and served as House speaker from 1895 to 1897 before launching an unsuccessful bid for Congress.

He was also a writer of adventure travel books, including "In to the Yukon," "On the Mexican Highlands," and "Through Scandinavia to Moscow."

Although it has seen better days, Bellefleur still stands on a bluff overlooking the Kanawha River and W.Va. 61 just west of East Bank. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.