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Bela Edgerton, son of Elisha and Eunice (Peck) Edgerton.                                                                PHOTO

Phebe Ketchum, daughter of Joseph and Phebe (Moore) Ketchum.

Children:

1. Alfred Peck, b. January 11, 1813; Plattsburgh, Clinton Co., NY.
2. Lycurgus, b. October 28, 1815; Plattsburgh, Clinton Co., NY.
3. Joseph Ketchum, b. February 16, 1818; Vergennes, Addison Co., VT.
4. Henry Ketchum, b. June 1820; Chazy, Clinton Co., NY.
5. Phebe Elizabeth, b. June 17, 1824; Chazy, Clinton Co., NY.

Bela Edgerton was born in Franklin, Connecticut on September 28, 1787, the son of Elisha and Eunice (Peck) Edgerton.  He was the second child of that name – an elder brother, Bela, had died in infancy a year previously.  Bela was baptized at the Franklin Congregational Church on April 13, 1788.

Bela was raised in Franklin and Coventry, Connecticut.  He graduated from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont in 1809 and subsequently practiced law at Plattsburgh, New York, Vergennes, Vermont and Chazy, New York.  He worked for many years as a teacher and lawyer, later taking up the life of a farmer, which was by all accounts his preferred vocation.  Bela served as Representative to the New York State Assembly in three sessions of the Legislature (January 1 – April 21, 1828, September 9 – December 10, 1828 and January 6 – May 5, 1829).

The following entry for Bela Edgerton is found in the Catalogue of Officers and Students of Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont 1800 – 1900 (Walter E. Howard & Charles E. Prentiss, comp.; Middlebury, Vermont: Published by the College; 1901; pg. 36):

“1809… BELA EDGERTON, son of Elisha Edgerton.  Born in Franklin, Conn., Sept. 28, 1787.  Prepared for College with Rev. Samuel Knott.  Teacher, Vergennes, Vt., and Plattsburg, N. Y., several years.  Member of N. Y. Assembly, 1826-1828.  Practiced law in Plattsburg, N.Y, 1810-1839.  Resided, Hicksville, O., and Fort Wayne, Ind., 1839-1874.  Married Phoebe Ketchum, 1811.  Children: Alfred P.; Lycurgus; Joseph Ketchum; Phoebe (Mrs M. A. Barnes); child died in infancy.  A.B. A.M.  Died in Fort Wayne, Ind , Sept. 10, 1874.”

Bela Edgerton was married at Plattsburgh, New York on March 24, 1811, to Phebe Ketchum, daughter of Joseph and Phebe (Moore) Ketchum.  Phebe was born at Red Hook, New York on March 24, 1790.  Bela and Phebe resided a number of years in Plattsburgh, where their two elder children – Alfred Peck and Lycurgus – were born.  The third son, Joseph Ketchum, was born at Vergennes, Vermont; and the two youngest children, son Henry Ketchum and daughter Phebe Elizabeth, were born at Chazy, New York.  The younger son, Henry, died at the age of one year and four months and was buried at Riverview Cemetery in Chazy, New York.

Charlotte Hollenberg of Union, Maine, a descendant of Bela’s eldest son, Alfred Peck Edgerton (1813 – 1897), relates the following anecdotal information passed down from her ancestors:

“Bela Edgerton, my g-g-g grandfather, was well known as a teacher of the classics (Latin and Greek) at Plattsburgh Academy and also at a local college.  He was a gentle man, much henpecked by his wife.  Her favorite son was Alfred Peck Edgerton, and this tale is told about her:  One evening when the family sat down to dinner at Hicksville at the Farm (“Fontland”) there wasn’t enough white sugar for all.  Thereupon she said, “Alfred and I will have the white sugar; the brown sugar (cheaper in those days) is plenty good enough for Bela (her husband) and Charlotte (her daughter-in-law)”.

Another story told about Bela Edgerton as an older man:  Every day he took a “constitutional” walk for his health.  On April 12, 1861, Bela, usually a calm and peaceable man, came rushing into the house yelling, “They (the confederates) have fired on Ft. Sumter; thet have fired on Ft. Sumter”.  He was in such a state of agitation that it was much noted by his family, as they had never seen him in such a state before.”

The household of Bela Edgerton was recorded in the 1820 Federal Census of Chazy, Clinton County, New York (pg. 66), with the following enumeration:

1 male “of 26 and under 45”  (Bela);

4 males “under 10 years of age”  (sons Alfred, Lycurgus, Joseph and Henry); and,

1 female “of 26 and under 45”  (wife Phebe).

The household of Bela Edgerton was recorded in the 1830 Federal Census of Champlain, Clinton County, New York (pg. 332), with the following enumeration:

1 male “of 40 and under 50”  (Bela);

1 male “of 10 and under 15”  (son Lycurgus);

1 male “of 5 and under 10”  (son Joseph – actually aged 12);

1 female “of 30 and under 40”  (wife Phebe); and,

1 female “of 5 and under 10”  (daughter Phebe).

In the early 1840’s, Bela and Phebe removed to Hicksville, Ohio, along with their eldest son, Alfred.  Mrs. Phebe (Ketchum) Edgerton died at Hicksville on August 24, 1844, aged 54 years.  Her burial location has not been ascertained.

Bela Edgerton was recorded in the 1850 Federal Census of Hicksville Township, Defiance County, Ohio residing in the household of Byron Bennett (pg. 88; dwelling #1180; family #1180; enum. August 23, 1850).  He was enumerated as “Bela Edgerton, aged 63, born in Connecticut, $500 real estate”.

In 1868, Bela Edgerton was invited to the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Franklin Church Society, of which his great-grandfather, Joseph, had been principal in organizing.  He was unable to attend and sent the following letter, which was read and entered into the church record:

“Hicksville, Ohio, Sept. 17, 1868. 

Ashbel Woodward, Esq. –  Your note and the invitation to be present at the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the church and society of Franklin, has been duly received.  I greatly regret that I cannot be present, as it would give me great pleasure to visit my native town once more.  But my age and the infirmities incident to it forbid such a journey.  That you may have a happy, good, and glorious time is my earnest prayer. Permit me to offer a sentiment:  –

“Franklin – The grave of my ancestors, the home of my childhood, the abode of a virtuous and honored people, long may their example be cherished, their puritan piety maintained unimpaired, and generations yet unborn follow the bright example.”

 I am, sir, respectfully yours, B. Edgerton 

N. B.  I am now eighty-two years old the present month.”

Bela resided in Hicksville for a number of years, and was living there as late as 1868, as testified by the above letter.  Late in life, he removed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his sons Alfred and Joseph were then living.  Bela Edgerton died at Fort Wayne on September 10, 1874, just two weeks short of his eight-seventh birthday.  His death was recorded in the Allen County death rolls (Fort Wayne, Book “SCH1”, page 54), listing his age as 87 years.  Bela was buried on September 11, 1874 in the family plot at Lindenwood Cemetery in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

The following lengthy obituary for Bela Edgerton appeared in The Fort Wayne Daily Sentinel on Monday, September 14, 1874:

“Bela Edgerton

The death in this city on the 10th  inst. of the venerable BELA EDGERTON severs another of the few remaining links connecting the present generation with that which took part in the war of American Independence and in the formation of our Federal Government.

The event deserves more than the brief mortuary notice, in which the newspapers of the day usually chronicle the departure of many, who, after honorable and useful lives, have gone from among the living forever.

Mr. Edgerton was born on the 28th day of September, 1787, and would therefore have completed his eighty-seventh year on the 28th day of this month.  The year and month of his birth were those of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, a fact to which he at times alluded with patriotic pride, not unfrequently expressing the hope during the last eventful decade, that he might not survive that priceless bond of our Federal Union.

An intelligent man whose life covered so large a term of the world’s history, as did Mr. Edgerton’s, could not but be rich in observation and experience, and he was a man of more than ordinary ability and intelligence, and carried with him vivid recollections of the memorable events of his time.

The lives of his father and himself combined, extended from 1754 to 1874 – one hundred and twenty years.  Born with the birth of the Constitution of the United States, Mr. Edgerton lived during the administration of all the Presidents from Washington to Grant.  The French revolutions were accomplished, and the two Bonapartes ran their eventful careers in his time.  Steamships, railroads and the electric telegraph, were all achievements of his lifetime, and the world’s history is resplendent with the lustre of great names and works of men who were born and lived and died while he lived.

Mr. Edgerton retained his bodily health and mental vigor until within a few hours of his death, which came to him with little warning or pain.  He passed away quietly at half past six o’clock on the morning of Thursday, the tenth instant, at the residence of his eldest son, Alfred P. Edgerton, in this city.

Mr. Edgerton was born at Franklin, New London county, Connecticut.  He was the third son of Col. Elisha Edgerton, and of the fifth generation in direct lineal descent from Richard Edgerton, one of the thirty-five original proprietors of the town of Norwich, Ct., which was settled in the year 1660.  Through a female descendant, Mr. Edgerton was also of the blood of William Hyde, another of the proprietors and settlers of Norwich.  To the genealogy of the family and descendants of William Hyde, the late Chancellor Walworth of New York, devoted the later years of his life in the production of two volumes which are a valuable contribution to American biography.  Col. Elisha Edgerton was a farmer in good circumstances and a prominent and honored citizen of his State.  He was for seventeen years a member of the legislature of Connecticut, and also a member of its constitutional convention in 1818, and died at an advanced age – eighty six years.  His son Bela Edgerton was fitted for college by Rev. Samuel Nott, a brother of the celebrated Dr. Nott of Union College, New York, and graduated at Middlebury College, Vermont, in 1809.  For several years after leaving College Mr. Edgerton was a classical teacher at Vergennes, Vermont, and Plattsburgh, New York, and having studied law, settled in Clinton county, New York, and was for many years a practicing lawyer and magistrate.  He married, in 1811, Phebe Ketchum, daughter of Joseph Ketchum, of Plattsburgh.

Mr. Edgerton was a resident of Plattsburgh during the war of 1812, and as a volunteer in the New York Militia under General Benjamin Moores, was engaged in the celebrated battle of Plattsburgh on the 11th of September, 1814.  He was buried on the anniversary of the battle in which he had participated sixty years before.

In 1826 Mr. Edgerton was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature of New York, and re-elected in 1827 and 1828, serving during three regular annual sessions, and two special sessions in 1827 and 1827 [sic].  During Mr. Edgerton’s term in the New York Legislature, it contained many able men, some of the ablest men in the State, who afterwards became men of national reputation.  Among these may be named Silas Wright, Millard Fillmore, William H. Seward, Erastus Root, National P. Tallmadge, Francis Granger, John C. Spencer, Peter B. Proctor, Luther Bradish, Abijah Mann, Jr.  While Mr. Edgerton was a member of the legislature, it had under revision the General Statutes of New York, upon the reports of John Dyer, John C. Spencer and Benjamin F. Butler, three of the most eminent members of the New York Bar, who had for several years been engaged under authority of the legislature in the work of revision.  This proposed revision of the statutes brought into the legislature of New York in the sessions of 1827 and 1828, some of the ablest lawyers of the State, men who, if not all of national reputation as statesmen, were distinguished as lawyers.  Among these, in addition to the names already stated, may be mentioned Elisha Williams, Ambrose Jordan, Samuel Stevens, Robert Emmet, Ogden Hoffman, Alonzo C. Paige, names well known to all familiar with the history of the New York bar.

The code of laws known as the Revised Statues [sic] of New York of 1830, which took effect January 1, 1830, was the work of the Legislature of 1827 and 1828, aided by the eminent revisors named above.  This revision of the New York statutes became the model of much of the general statute law of other States of the Union, especially of the Western States.  It was in a measure the forerunner of the modern improvements in American law, which have cleared it from the expensive and dilatory forms and obsolete ideas and provisions of the old English system of jurisprudence and judicial procedure, which the American colonies, while subjects of England, had adopted.

Mr. Edgerton was & prominent and active participant in the work of the three Legislatures of which he was a member and as part of his work, may be mentioned the New York statute of 1828 against duelling, which made killing in a duel a capital offense, and this fighting of a duel or a challenge to one, a felony – a law which put an end in that State to such barbarous murders as were once perpetrated with impunity under the falsely called code of honor.

The death of DeWitt Clinton, then Governor of New York, occurred on the eleventh day of February, 1826, during a session of the Legislature.  He died of apoplexy, and his death caused a shock of profound sorrow throughout the United State – for he was not only the most eminent and honored citizen of New York, but a man of national fame.

For years before Governor Clinton’s death, a bitter hostility had grown up between the party friends of Governor Clinton and those of Daniel D. Tompkins, who had died in 1825, and it survived even the death of Clinton.  Governor Tompkins had been the political rival of Clinton.  No public man of New York had ever had more ardent and devoted friends than Tompkins.  He was a man of splendid abilities and noble qualities, and an ardent Democrat.  He had been a member of Congress, Governor of New York for ten years, covering the war of 1812, a Judge of the Supreme Court of New York, and for two terms Vice President of the United States.  He died at the early age of fifty-one, “hunted down,” as his friends charged, “by the blood hounds of party,” and “driven broken hearted to his grave,” by the political friends of DeWitt Clinton, who had then become identified with the Federal Republican party so-called.

Governor Clinton notwithstanding his and splendid service to the State of New York, died poor, leaving a widow and young and dependent family.  Mr. Edgerton had been an anti-Clinton Democrat and a warm admirer of Governor Tompkins, but rising above partisan feeling and burying in Governor Clinton’s grave all animosity.  On the 15th of February, 1828, the day after Governor Clinton’s funeral, he, as chairman of a special committee appointed on his motion, reported a bill in the House of Assembly for the relief of Governor Clinton’s minor children, proposing lo pay them the salary of the Governor for the unexpired term of the year 1828, and a further sum equal to the received for salary or compensation by any other Usual Commissioner, during the period for which DeWitt Clinton had held the office of Usual Commissioner, and for which he had not been paid. The entire sum contemplated by the bill would have been only a few thousand dollars, and appears insignificant when compared with the large sums now given as salaries to Presidents and Governors, or as gratuities to their families.  This bill was nevertheless was opposed by General Erastus Root, the Democratic Speaker of the Assembly, on party grounds, and by other leading Democrats, the moving spirit of the opposition being personal hostility to Governor Clinton, on account of his supposed persecution of the lamented Tompkins.  The bill produced a long and angry debate of several days, and was finally defeated by the decision of the speaker, requiring a two-third vote in its favor, but was subsequently reconsidered, and a substitute was passed giving the minor children the sum of ten thousand dollars and a gratuity, in consideration of the eminent public services of their father and in addition to his pay as Governor.

Among the most eloquent advocates of the bill were Benjamin F. Butler and Nathaniel P. Tallmadge, both Democrats, the one afterwards General Jackson’s Attorney General, the other a United States Senator, and both then young statesmen of brilliant promise.  The speech of Mr. Butler was one of the most eloquent efforts of his life, and drew tears from the eyes of strong men unused to weep.  Breathing the language of devoted affection to the memory of the dead Tompkins, it was appealed to his friends to do to the helpless children of the dead Clinton what his great rival would himself had done had he been living.  “Pass this bill,” said Mr. Butler, “for you know that he would have done it.  If you can not do it for DeWitt Clinton, as he now lies in his grave, do it for him as he was from 1798 to 1813 – the pride of your party and the hope of your State.  Do it for James Clinton who fought for you at Quebec and at Fort Washington!  Do it for George Clinton – my appeal is to party men — do it for George Clinton, the father of your State – the founder of your party.

Mr. Edgerton, as chairman of the committee who reported the bill, closed the debate.  From the record of the debate a brief abstract of his speech is quoted in illustration of the manly and generous nature and broad views of the man when acting as a public legislator.

“Mr. Edgerton said he regretted extremely the course this debate had taken and he felt called upon, as the chairman who reported the bill, to express his view as concisely as possible, as to the grounds which it is intended to embrace.  It appears to me, sir, said Mr. E., that gentlemen take too narrow and too limited a survey in discussing a subject of this nature.  What, sir, are our fleets and navies, our armies and our fortresses of defence, unless manned and garrisoned by hearts warmed with a spirit of freedom and with arms nerved with a love of their country?  In vain should we hope for the liberty of the Republic, the perpetuity of our free institutions, were it not for public spirit, and a devotion of the best energies of the mind of our public men to the good end to the wellfare of their country.  I stand not here as the eulogist of any man: such is not my business as a member upon this floor.  But, sir, I am the last man in this House, who will not award to DeWitt Clinton all that is his due; his elevated character attracts the attention of this State and his fame has gone forth to our common country; and to his public reputation are we bound to award the meed of praise.  That public spirit which this bill is intended to foster, to cherish and to raise, is what I would hope to accomplish by voting for this proposition.  With me it is even of little consequence which of these fatherless children named in this bill are in affluence or wandering in the pathway of want – in comparison with the importance of public spirit and the capacity to execute public trusts. To DeWitt Clinton, all (both the friends of the substitute offered by the gentleman from Erie, and the original bill), concede talents, preeminent, and of the first order. What – Sir, let me ask, prevented him from enriching himself out of your public treasury, had he been so disposed, during the length of time he has been in public life?  How was it with our Washington?  Did  he not only refuse any reward for his services while employed in public life?  How was it with Jefferson, after a long life devoted to public service?  Did he not die poor?  Talk not to me of dollars and cents; if reputation in public life is in question, the value of it to our country is past compensation, and with me it is far more consequence than the sum proposed to be given by this bill.  The children named in this bill may have talents and energy of mind, to rise above any pecuniary considerations, and make their way to the temple of fame.  With them, therefore, it may be of little, comparatively little, importance whether this bill passes or not.  But, sire, when I look at the broad principle which this bill embraces, I loose sight of these children, and of the name of their father, great and splendid as it is.  Pass this bill in either of the forms contemplated, and you say with an emphasis to every successive Governor of your State, ‘Go thou and do likewise.’  Encourage this principle in your public officers, and our country is safe.  You, by this bill, may call from the mine, gems, and the diamonds yet unpolished, to shine in your chair of state.”

After the expiration of his service in the New York Legislature, Mr. Edgerton never again entered public life.  He continued to reside in Clinton county New York until 1839, when he removed to Hicksville, Ohio, and engaged in farming.  He was never fond of the legal profession, preferring the life of a farmer, to which he had a hereditary attachment.  After the death of his wife in 1844, he became a member of the family of his eldest son, with whom he continued to live at Hicksville, Ohio, and Fort Wayne for the residue of his life with the exception of occasional visits and sojourns in New York and New England.

Mr. Edgerton was of very temperate and active habits, rising with the dawn and retiring early, and ever loving the free open air and communion with nature in field and forest, and it was not until the infirmities of extreme old age came upon him that he would confine himself within doors.  There his active and well stored mind found work and enjoyment in renewing the studies of his youth and in books of general knowledge and in the news of the day.  He became for the last twelve or fifteen years of his life an almost constant reader.  He took an active interest in all public questions, and was warm and strong in his political faith, that of a Jeffersonian Democrat.  An ardent lover of his country, he saw the way to its prosperity and honor in the political principles of the Democratic party in its better days, when statesmen of the stump and school of Jefferson, Madison, Jackson, Tompkins and Wright were its controlling minds.

Mr. Edgerton was fond of society, and his genial temper and large knowledge of public men and events and fine conversational powers, made him ever an entertaining companion.  He was never disposed to yield to the infirmities of age, nor to accept help unless compelled to.  About nine years ago, he had a severe and protracted attack of typhoid fever, but his strong will and healthy constitution carried him safely through it.  He often expressed his wish not to survive an hour the loss of his mental and physical faculties.  He expressed this wish but a week before his death, during a social visit in which he gave evidence that his mind and memory, and power of self help were still vigorous. A kind Providence granted his prayer that he might die without passing through that living death of which the aged are sometimes the subjects.  Not unfrequently we see our loved ones declining into the vale of years, with well nigh all physical senses and powers and intellectual faculties gone, unable to see or hear, or speak, or move, carrying heavily the dead burden of a mere animal life, the light of the soul no more illuminating its house of clay, a sad spectacle and care to all who lose them.  It was not so with him.  Life was life to him in body and mind, lo well nigh the last hour of his four score and seven years.

Mr. Edgerton was born of New England Presbyterian parents.  He was always a believer and for most of his life a professor in the Christian faith.  He was for many years a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which communion his wife continued from her girlhood to her death, a devoted Christian wife and mother; but Mr. E. in the latter part his life did not approve what he considered the undue prominence given of late years to partizan politics by Methodist ministers and the strong party feeling which grew up in that Church, and he therefore ceased his communion with it, and about a year before his death, was confirmed by Bishop Talbott at Trinity Church in this city in the communion of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and he died in that communion.

Of the five children born to Mr. E. (one of whom died in infancy) four survive him, viz:  Alfred P and Joseph K. Edgerton, of this city; Lycugus Edgerton, of New York; and Mrs. Phebe E. Barnes, of Clinton county, N.Y., and it was often not the least of the pleasure of Mr. Edgerton’s life in his later years, to see around him his children, grand children and great grand children.

In view of the long, honorable and ever cheerful life of Bela Edgerton, its lesson and admonition may be well expressed in the beautiful words of Bryant:  –

‘So like that whom thy summons comes to join

The innumerable caravan that moves

To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take

His chamber in the silent halls of death,

Thou go not like the quarry slave at night.

Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed,

By an unfaltering trust approach the grave

Take one who wraps the drapery of his couch

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.”

Two of Bela and Phebe Edgerton’s sons – Alfred Peck and Joseph Ketchum – were elected to Congress, both from the state of Indiana.  The third son, Lycurgus, was a businessman in New York City and Rome, Italy.  The only daughter, Phebe Elizabeth, was married to Dr. Melvin A. Barnes and resided in Clinton County, New York.