http://jsfiddle.net/mblase75/XGdkD/
The problem is that for the second Edit button, the previous table row isn't the row you want -- you want the row two more before that, because that's where the rowspans begin.
Or, to be general: you want the table row belonging to the previous Edit button. In the case of the first edit button, though, you just want the previous row.
So, in code:
$('.edit').click(function () {
var idx = $('.edit').index(this); // which Edit button is this?
if (idx > 0) { // first button
var $tr = $('.edit').eq(idx-1).closest('tr'); // previous row
} else { // not first button
var $tr = $(this).closest('tr').prev('tr'); // previous Edit button's row
}
var $td = $tr.find('td:nth-child(2)'); // second <td> of the row
alert($td.text());
});
Compact version of the same code:
$('.edit').click(function () {
var idx = $('.edit').index(this),
$tr = (idx) ? $('.edit').eq(idx-1).closest('tr') : $(this).closest('tr').prev('tr'),
$td = $tr.find('td:nth-child(2)');
alert($td.text());
});