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The Edgerton Database |
Erastus Smith Edgerton, son of Erastus and Sophronia (Willis) Edgerton. PHOTO
Eliza Cannon, daughter of Benjamin and Persis (Miller) Cannon.
Children:
Erastus Smith Edgerton was born in “Erastus S. Edgerton” was listed in the 1850 Federal Census of Delhi, Delaware County, NY (pg. 245; dwelling #1238; family #1271; enum. Sept. 13, 1850). He and his wife, Eliza, were residing in the household of her brother, George B. Cannon, and were recorded as follows:
The
following
biography of Erastus Smith Edgerton
is abstracted from Pen Pictures of “ERASTUS SMITH EDGERTON. Mr. Edgerton was born in “In the capacity of Deputy Sheriff he came in collision
with a combination of armed men known as anti-renters, who resisted the
payment of rents and the execution of the laws. He was placed in command of a
posse of horsemen, and on that occasion seven prisoners were captured and
confined in the county jail at THE OLDEST BANKER IN THE CITY AND STATE. On the 8th of January, 1844, Mr. Edgerton was married to Miss Cannon; removed to St. Paul in 1853, and in 1854 opened a bank in partnership with the late Charles N. Mackubin in a room in the Winslow House, Seven Corners, and subsequently removed to the corner of Exchange and Third streets, where the firm continued up to 1857, when Mr. Mackubin retired and Edgerton has continued in the business ever since, putting him in the front rank as the oldest continuous banker in the city and State, a position he is justly entitled to and which he has bravely won. Borup & Oakes, Ira Bidwell, and I think Truman M. Smith preceded him, but the three first are dead, and Mr. Smith is in another business. THE $5,000,000 RAILROAD LOAN BILL. When this bill had passed the Legislature and had been
endorsed by over 18,000 majority of the people, certain parties desired to
get the bonds upon which to do banking. Failing to secure the exclusive
control of the bonds for this purpose, they turned their guns upon the
measure and fought it desperately, even after it had passed the Legislature
and been approved by the people. This is a matter of history. And it was
currently reported at the time and generally believed, that Mr. Edgerton was
the third party to make up this syndicate; indeed he owned the People's Bank,
whose bills circulated on these bonds; but be this as it may, I find him
opposing the measure and so incurring the wrath of the advocates of the
movement, that on the evening of the day when the loan amendment was carried,
he was serenaded and the band played the “Dead March.” Here he made the
second speech of his life when he uttered that memorable sentence – “The time
will come when the people of Minnesota will vote to repudiate the bonds by a
larger majority than they have voted to issue them,” – and that prediction
has proven true. And yet, the amendment having passed the Legislature and
having been approved by the people and having been incorporated as a part of
the Constitution, became a plighted pledge of the State to pay, and Mr.
Edgerton therefore opposed repudiation, and when the bills of his People's
Bank came in for redemption, he redeemed every dollar! Chas. Parker, Pease,
Chalfant & Co., Wm. R. Marshall, Truman M. Smith and others went by the
board, but Edgerton came out of the fire like pure gold, and has maintained
his credit unimpaired ever since. In 1865 he organized what is now known as
the Second National Bank of PERSONAL. Mr. Edgerton is a tall, slender person, quick as thought in his transactions and usually wears glasses. He is a man of great nerve; a remarkable financier; one of the best bankers in the Northwest, and a gentleman of intrinsic merit. He is prudent, cautious, careful, yet decisive; active and stirring, yet slow; close, calulating, systematic, but generous; and his views of how a young man ought to be educated to become a good banker, are the soundest and best I have ever heard advanced by any financier. Mr. Edgerton has done many very generous acts to various individuals, and to his relatives he has given not less than $100,000. While personally I never received a favor from him, yet I learn from those who know him best that he ranks all other bankers in this city, dead or alive, in acts of generosity, and these acts have been performed so quietly, so pleasantly, and so cheerfully, that the recipients of his favors will never forget his kindness.” Original Source Documents: 1850 Federal Census – household of Erastus Smith Edgerton; Franklin, Delaware Co., NY. Obituary – Erastus
Smith Edgerton; The Saint Paul Daily
Globe – Monday, April 17, 1893. Obituary – Erastus Smith Edgerton; Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, North Dakota) – Tuesday, April 13, 1893. Death Certificate – Mrs. Eliza (Cannon) Edgerton; New York City Death Certificates; certificate #1840. Obituary
– Mrs. Eliza (Cannon) Edgerton; The New
York Times – Monday, January 14, 1895. Obituary – Mrs. Eliza (Cannon) Edgerton; The Sun (New York, New York) – Monday, January 14, 1895. |
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