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Capt. Hezekiah Edgerton, son of Joseph and Experience (Pratt) Edgerton.

Anne Abell, daughter of Theophilus and Anne (Caulkins) Abell.

Children:

1. Sarah, b. August 28, 1735; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
2. Anne, b. October 9, 1738; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
3. Experience, b. September 12, 1740; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
4. Hezekiah, b. April 13, 1743; Norwich, New London Co., CT.

Freelove Miner, daughter of James and Abigail (Eldridge) Miner.

Children:

5. Daniel, b. November 17, 1747; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
6. Oliver, b. September 22, 1750; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
7. Freelove, b. October 27, 1753; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
8. Freelove, b. May 17, 1757; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
9. Phebe, b. ~1760; Norwich, New London Co., CT.

Hezekiah Edgerton I was born April 6, 1706 in Norwich, Connecticut, the third child and eldest son of Joseph and Experience (Pratt) Edgerton.  He was baptized at the First Congregational Church of Norwich on September 30, 1707.

Hezekiah married first, in Norwich on May 13, 1734, Anne Abell, daughter of Theophilus and Anne (Caulkins) Abell.  Anne was born in Norwich on July 2, 1717.  Hezekiah and Anne resided in Norwich, in the northwestern district of town later set aside as the township of Franklin.  They had four children – Sarah, Anne, Experience and Hezekiah Jr. – all born in Norwich.  The family was fully recorded in the vital records at Norwich (VRp I:158-159).

Hezekiah and Anne Edgerton were members of the Franklin Congregational Church.  They were married there (ChR 1:382) and “Mrs. Ann Edgerton” was admitted to the church on July 19, 1741 “by profession” (ChR 1:29).  All four of Hezekiah and Anne’s children were baptized at the Franklin Church.

Mrs. Anne (Abell) Edgerton died at Norwich, Connecticut on February 7, 1743/4, as recorded in the vital records there (VRp I:159).  She was buried at the Old Franklin Plains Cemetery in Franklin, Connecticut, where her gravestone records her death on February 27, 1644 [sic], “in her 28th year”.

Hezekiah married second, in Norwich on December 17, 1746, “Freelove Hilliard”.  Freelove’s parentage has heretofore been undetermined, previous research apparently having been thwarted by a misnomer in the above record.  From the age at death recorded on Freelove’s headstone (ie. 84 years) it is known that she was born circa 1716, probably in Norwich or thereabouts as the Norwich marriage record fails to list otherwise.  At the least, she had probably lived in Norwich for some time prior to her marriage to Hezekiah.  A search of Connecticut vital records has failed to find any Freelove Hilliard (or Helyard, Hillard, etc.) born circa 1716.  However, there was a Freelove Minor, daughter of James and Abigail (Eldridge) Miner, born in Stonington, Connecticut on July 4, 1716.  She married Joseph Hilliard (also of Stonington) on February 25, 1735/36 and subsequently settled in Norwich.  Joseph and Freelove had five children before his early death in Norwich on December 25, 1744. (VRp I:180)  It seems plausible then that the “Freelove Hilliard” who married Hezekiah Edgerton was in fact the widow Freelove (Miner) Hilliard.  Two other facts support such a theory.  First, a known connection between the two families is already documented in the later marriage of Levi Hilliard (youngest son of Joseph and Freelove) to Experience Edgerton (niece of Hezekiah).  And secondly, Hezekiah and Freelove Edgerton’s first-born son, Daniel, born in 1747 and thus just three years younger than his conjectured step-brother Levi, named one of his sons Levi.  Final proof of Freelove’s identity is found in her will (see below), which mentions, in addition to her children by Hezekiah, “sons Joseph and Miner Hilliard”.  It is unfortunate that the Norwich record failed to designate her as Mrs.; however, such errors were not uncommon.  Curiously, the record of Hezekiah and Freelove’s marriage at the Bozrah Congregational Church (ChR 3:29) is equally silent about her previous marital status.

According the Norwich Vital Records (VRp I:256), Hezekiah and Freelove Edgerton had four children – Daniel, Oliver, Freelove (who died young), and another Freelove.  It is also known that they had one other daughter, Phebe, born in Norwich, probably circa 1760. 

Hezekiah was a Captain of Connecticut Troops during the Revolution, and is recorded as such in the DAR Patriot Index, as well as on his gravestone.  He died in Norwich on July 18, 1776, and was buried in the Old Franklin Plains Cemetery.  He left a Last Will and Testament, dated September 8, 1774, which was proved in New London Court before the Hon. Ebenezer Hartshorn, Justice of the Peace, on July 23, 1776.  The will is curious in that it makes notable mention of a hitherto undocumented daughter, Phebe.  This daughter is not included in the otherwise complete record of the family in the Norwich Vital Records, nor is there any record of her baptism at any of the Norwich Churches.  The youngest daughter listed in the Vital Records – Freelove 2nd – is not mentioned in Hezekiah’s will and there is no record of her death; therefore, one might speculate that this second Freelove (born May 17, 1756) was identical with the daughter Phebe, an error having been made in the town birth record.  On the other hand, the Norwich town clerk was precise in listing the fourth child of Freelove and Hezekiah as a “2nd Freelove”.  At any rate, it is clear from his will that Hezekiah had only six surviving children when he died – three daughters, Sarah, Anne and Phebe, and three sons, Hezekiah, Daniel and Oliver.

It appears that all of Hezekiah’s children removed from Norwich, either shortly before or just after his death.  The three sons, Hezekiah, Daniel and Oliver, removed to Tolland County, Connecticut – Hezekiah to Coventry and Daniel and Oliver to Tolland.  Eldest daughter, Sarah, had earlier married Oliver Buell of Lebanon, and they later settled in Lee, Oneida County, New York.  Daughter Anne married Amos Avery and lived in Coventry; and youngest daughter, Phebe, was married to Ebenezer Grant in Tolland, Connecticut on April 22, 1779 and died just a year and a half later leaving one son, Oliver.

Following the death of her husband, Mrs. Freelove Edgerton went to live with her son, Daniel Edgerton, in Tolland, Connecticut.  She died there on February 13, 1801, and was buried at the South Yard Cemetery, where numerous descendants of her son, Daniel, were also interred.  Freelove’s gravestone was inscribed: “In Memory of Mrs. Freelove Edgerton, Relict of Mr. Hezekiah Edgerton, who died Feb. 13th 1801 In the 84th year of her age”.  Freelove’s death was entered in the Vital Records of Tolland (Book 3, pg. 63) as, “Freelove, widow of Hezekiah Edgerton, late of Norwich, died February 13, 1801.

Mrs. Freelove Edgerton left a Last Will and Testament, dated at Norwich, December 31, 1785, which mentions “sons Joseph and Miner Hilliard”, “sons Daniel and Oliver Edgerton”, “daughter Lydia Hyde”, and “grandsons Ambrose Hilliard and Oliver Grant”.  Two of her sons, Miner Hilliard and Daniel Edgerton, were named co-executors.  The will was proved in Franklin, Connecticut on June 10, 1801 before Silas Hartshorn, Justice of the Peace.