The

Edgerton

Database

Home

Index

Sources

Search

Researchers

Notes...

Contact info

Photos

Links

Credits…

Joseph Edgerton, son of Hezekiah and Bethiah (Peck) Edgerton.

Phebe Colman, daughter of Nathan and Deborah (Turner) Colman.

Children:

1. Phebe C., b. March 10, 1815; Coventry, Tolland Co., CT.

Joseph Edgerton was born in Franklin, Connecticut on August 25, 1788, the fifth son and youngest child of Hezekiah and Bethiah (Peck) Edgerton.  He was baptized at the Franklin Congregational Church on October 31, 1788.  Joseph Edgerton was presumably named for his elder brother, also named Joseph, who had died the previous year at the age of twenty-two.

Joseph was raised first in Franklin and later Coventry, Connecticut, where his family had settled shortly before 1800.  He was a farmer and planter, and resided in the South Society of Coventry.

Joseph Edgerton served as a private in Capt. Asa Copeland’s regiment of the Connecticut Militia during the War of 1812.  His period of service was noted from September 14, 1813 to November 1, 1813.  Joseph’s nephew, Hezekiah Edgerton, also fought in the same company.  (see Record of Service of Connecticut Men, Part II, War of 1812, pg. 48)

Joseph’s wife was Phebe Colman, daughter of Nathan and Deborah (Turner) Coleman of Coventry.  Phebe was the sister of Polly and William Colman, who married Joseph’s nephew and niece, Hezekiah Edgerton and Lucia Edgerton (children of Joseph’s elder brother, Hezekiah). 

There is no record of the Nathan Turner family in the Vital Records at Coventry.  From Phebe’s death record (Coventry VRp 236), it is estimated that she was born circa 1793, presumably in Coventry.  The 1880 Federal Census enumeration of her daughter, Phebe C. (Edgerton) Hartshorn (New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut; pg. 318) reports that Phebe was born in the state of Connecticut; and the death record of this daughter (New Haven VR 27:462) lists her mother’s birthplace as “So. Coventry, Ct.”  Phebe, daughter of Nathan Colman, was baptized at the First Congregational Church of Coventry (South Society) in September 1793 (VRp 207).

Joseph and Phebe were probably married in Coventry circa 1813.  They had only one child – a daughter, Phebe C., born in Coventry on March 10, 1815.  Mrs. Phebe (Colman) Edgerton died at Coventry on March 11, 1815, most likely from complications due to childbirth.  Her death was recorded at the First Congregational Church of Coventry on that date as, “Wife of Joseph Edgerton, 22 years”.  Phebe was buried at the Nathan Hale Cemetery in Coventry, where her headstone was inscribed:  “Phebe Edgerton, died Mar. 11, 1815, aged 21 years.”  A notice of Phebe’s death was printed in the Windham Herald on March 23, 1815, stating that she died in Coventry, aged 22 years.

Joseph’s wife, Phebe, was mentioned in the will of her father, Nathan Colman (dated June 12, 1828), in the following context:

“…My other daughters (viz) Sally White Polly Edgerton Phebe Edgerton decd Wealthy Barrows & Deborah Lyons together with what I have above directed to sd Deborah have all received their portions equal to the legacies which I have directed to be paid to my other daughters.”

Joseph Edgerton resided in Coventry for the whole of his adult life.  His lands in Coventry were adjacent to those of his elder brother, Azel, as indicated by the probate distribution of the latter’s estate and by the various census enumerations of Coventry.  In the 1850 Federal Census of Coventry, Tolland County, Connecticut, Joseph was recorded residing adjacent to his nephew, Justin P. Edgerton (Azel’s son), and his sister-in-law, Parthena (Azel’s widow).

The household of Joseph Edgerton was recorded in the 1830 Federal Census of Coventry, Tolland County, Connecticut (pg. 277), with the following enumeration:

1 male “of 40 and under 50”  (Joseph); and,

1 female “of 30 and under 40”  (? – possibly a second wife)

1 female “of 15 and under 20”  (daughter Phebe).

Joseph’s only daughter, Phebe C., was married at Mansfield, Connecticut in 1838 to Zurill C. Hartshorn.  Zurill and Phebe resided for a number of years in South Coventry with her father.  The had at least one son, Joseph W., who was born in Coventry circa 1840.

The household of Joseph Edgerton was recorded in the 1840 Federal Census of Coventry, Tolland County, Connecticut (pg. 96), with the following enumeration:

1 male “50 and under 60”  (Joseph);

1 male “30 and under 40”  (son-in-law Zurill); and,

1 female “20 and under 30”  (daughter Phebe).

By the year 1850, Joseph’s son-in-law, Zurill Hartshorn, had apparently succeeded to the family homestead in Coventry, since he was listed as the head of household in the 1850 Federal Census of Coventry, Tolland County, Connecticut (pg. 310; dwelling #31; family #33; enum. July 25, 1850).  The household was recorded as follows:

Joseph Edgerton died at Coventry, Connecticut on February 23, 1855.  He was buried beside his wife, Phebe, at Nathan Hale Cemetery, where his tombstone bears the epitaph:  “Joseph Edgerton, died Feb. 23, 1855, aged 66 years”.  Joseph’s daughter, Phebe, and her husband Zurill Hartshorn, where later buried adjacent to him in the family plot.

Joseph Edgerton had died intestate.  On March 8, 1855, his nephew, “Hezekiah Edgerton Esq.” was granted letters of administration on the estate of “Joseph Edgerton late of Coventry”.  On the same date appraisers were appointed and an order was given to allow six months for notice to any creditors on the estate.  Unfortunately, no further accounts of administration or distribution were filed with the probate court.