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John Leffingwell Edgerton, son of Jedediah and Lucy (Curtis) Edgerton.

Delia Doud, daughter of Silas and Irena (Scovil) Doud.

Children:

1. Harriet Augusta, b. April 1, 1834; Essex, Chittenden Co., VT.
2. Martha Irena, b. October 6, 1838; Lima, Allen Co., OH.
3. William Wilberforce, b. August 4, 1845; Indiana.
4. John Howard, b. November 1852; Cambridge, Lamoille Co., VT.

John Leffingwell Edgerton was born at Pawlet, Vermont on December 2, 1795, the youngest son of Jedediah and Lucy (Curtis) Edgerton.  He was baptized at the First Congregational Church of Pawlet on December 31, 1795.  The choice of John’s middle name – Leffingwell – is not certain.  The Leffingwell family was prominent in Norwich, Connecticut where John’s father, Jedediah, was born; however none of that name are known to have settled in Pawlet.  John did have a great aunt, Hannah (Edgerton) Leffingwell, elder sister of his grandfather, Simeon Edgerton.  It may have been a descendant of hers after whom John was named.  John’s next-eldest brother, Ebenezer, was also given the middle name Leffingwell.

When John was six years old, his family removed from Pawlet to Moriah, in Essex County, New York, where he spent the majority of his childhood.  John L. Edgerton was a teacher and professor.  Hiel Hollister’s Pawlet for One Hundred Years (Albany, New York: J. Munsell; 1867, pg. 185) notes that he was “well and widely known as a teacher and lecturer on natural sciences.”

John Leffingwell Edgerton enlisted on March 1, 1812 at Moriah, New York for service in the War of 1812 as a member of Captain Alexander McKenzie’s command.  “John L. Edgerton” was also listed as a private in Capt. Winslow's Company of the New York Militia (see War of 1812 Muster Rolls, Rollbox 64, extract #602).  Two of John’s elder brothers – Jedediah and Curtis – also served in the War of 1812.

John Leffingwell Edgerton was married on February 4, 1832 at New Haven, Vermont to Miss Delia Doud, daughter of Silas and Irena (Scovil) Doud.  Delia was born in New Haven on May 27, 1812.  John and Delia had a family of four children:  two daughters, Harriet Augusta and Martha Irena; and two sons, William Wilberforce and John Howard.  The family apparently moved quite often as the three elder children – Harriet, Martha and William – were each born in different states.  John and Delia’s youngest son, John Howard, was born in Vermont (presumably at Cambridge) in the year 1852.  Secondary accounts indicate that John L. Edgerton was a traveling preacher and lecturer and resided at various times in Essex, Vermont, Lima, Ohio, Indiana State, Waverly, New York and Cambridge, Vermont, no doubt among other locations.

The following biography of John Leffingwell Edgerton is excerpted from America Ancestry: Giving the Name and Descent, in the Male Line of Americans whose Ancestors Settled in the United States Previous to the Declaration of Independence (Albany, New York: Joel Munsell’s Sons; Vol. III, Part I; 1888; pg. 113):

“EDGERTON, JOHN LEFFINGWELL of Pawlet, Vt., b. there Dec. 2, 1795, d. at Milwaukee July 3, 1870, a volunteer in war of 1812, had four children, the eldest son, Dr. William W.,was a volunteer in the war of the Rebellion and the eldest child Harriet Augusta, who m. Mar. 29, 1854, Jesse Eugene Tenney, and is now librarian of Mich. State Library, succeeding her husband in 1869, she was educated at Franklin Acad., Vt., with her husband taught school in Calhoun county, Mich., until 1859, then removed to Lansing, is rec. sec. of Mich. Pioneer and Hist. Soc. since organization 1874, member of Nat. Lib. Assoc. since organization, cor. mem. Chicago Hist. Soc., pres. Lansing Soldiers' Aid. Soc. 1861-6, pres. Lansing Woman's Soldiers' Monument Assoc. since organization 1873, dept. counselor 1886, dept. treas., 1887, of Woman's Relief Corps of Mich., was pres. Lansing Woman's Lit. Club (J. L. E. above m. Feb. 4, 1832, Delia, b. May 27, 1812, d. Feb. 29, 1868, dau. of Silas and Irena [Scovil] Doud of New Haven, Vt.)”

household of “J. L. Edgerton” was recorded in the 1850 Federal Census of Cambridge, Lamoille County, Vermont (pg. 93; dwelling #10; family #10; enum. August 8, 1850), as follows:

The three children were each noted as attending school within the year.

The household of John L. Edgerton was recorded in the 1860 Federal Census of Waverly (Barton Township) Tioga County, New York (pg. 575; dwelling #182; family #174; enum. August 2, 1860), as follows

No record of the family has been found in the 1870 census and it is reported in the correspondence of John’s elder son, William W., that the family was separated due to John’s frequent travels.  Mrs. Delia (Doud) Edgerton went to live with her daughter, Mrs. Martha Newton, in Sparta, Wisconsin, where she died on February 29, 1868.

John Leffingwell Edgerton later settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he died on July 3, 1870 (see the biography of John’s elder son, William, in Past and Present of Livingston County, Volume 2, Major A. J. Roof, 1913, pp. 20-24).  The DAR Lineage Book entry of John’s granddaughter, Eva (Edgerton) Welch (Vol. 59, pg. 144, ID#58415) lists Delia Doud as John’s “1st wife”, indicating that John was may have been remarried sometime following Delia’s death; however, no record of a second wife has been found.

John and Delia (Doud) Edgerton are buried together at Woodlawn Cemetery in Sparta, Michigan.  The burial plot is marked with a monument engraved “EDGERTON” and two individual footstones bear the following epitaphs:

John’s daughter, Martha Irena (Edgerton) Newton, and her husband Andrew Jackson Newton are also buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Original Source Documents:

Baptismal Record – John Leffingwell Edgerton; Records of the Congregational Church in Pawlet; Vol. I.

1850 Federal Census – household of John Leffingwell Edgerton; Cambridge, Lamoille Co., VT.

1860 Federal Census – household of John Leffingwell Edgerton; Waverly (Barton Township) Tioga Co., NY.

Gravestone photo – Mrs. Delia (Doud) Edgerton; Woodlawn Cemetery; Sparta, Monroe Co., WI.

Gravestone photo – John Leffingwell Edgerton; Woodlawn Cemetery; Sparta, Monroe Co., WI.