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Edgerton

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Oliver Edgerton, son of Joseph and Lucy (Lyon) Edgerton.

Persis Rice, daughter of Moses and Ruth (Pierce) Rice.

Susana Hawks

Lucy McWade

Oliver Edgerton was born at Norwich, Connecticut on June 14, 1765, the second son of Joseph Edgerton II and Lucy Lyon.  He was baptized at the Bozrah Congregational Church on June 23, 1765.  During his teen years, Oliver’s parents removed from Connecticut and settled in the town of Hawley, in Franklin County (then Hampshire County), Massachusetts.  Oliver resided for much of his adult life in Hawley, later removing along with many of his siblings and nephews to Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

Oliver Edgerton was married twice.  His first wife was Persis Rice, eldest daughter of Moses and Ruth (Pierce) Rice of Charlemont, Massachusetts.  Persis was born at Charlemont, Massachusetts on May 21, 1768.  Her younger sister, Candace, was married to Oliver’s brother, Joseph Edgerton Jr.  The Rice and Edgerton families were evidently quite close, as evidenced by the numerous marriages between the two –  eg. brothers William and Seth Rice, who married Oliver’s nieces, Ruth and Candace Edgerton; and Alfred Rice, who married Oliver’s younger sister, Lucy.

David Dumas’ Joseph Edgerton of Norwich, CT and his Descendants (privately published; East Greenwich, Rhode Island; 1982) gives the following account of Oliver Edgerton:

“Oliver Edgerton was born 14 June 1765 in Norwich (VR I:394), married Persis Rice and settled in Hawley, where he was elected one of the highway surveyors at the first town meeting in 1792.  I presume that she is that “Persis, wife of A. E. Igerton” in the list of members of the first Parish in Hawley printed in the History of the the Town of Hawley (1953 ed.) at p. 17.  In all likelihood “Edgerton” was misread by the transcriber as “E. Igerton”.  In 1834 he sold his house (built in 1807) to Simeon Crittenden Jr., having removed in 1831 or 1832 to Brecksville, Ohio, just south of Cleveland, where they died, she in 1836 and he in 1849.  Oliver and Persis had no children of their own but adopted Lovina (not Lorana) Skiff, who marr. John Milton Leonard and died 22 Nov. 1833 at Hawley.”

The household of Oliver Edgerton was recorded in the 1800 Federal Census of Hawley, Franklin County (then Hampshire County), Massachusetts (pg. 478), with the following enumeration:

1 male “of 26 and under 45”  (Oliver);

1 female “of 26 and under 45”  (wife Persis); and,

1 female “of 16 and under 26”  (?).

Oliver Edgerton was listed again as a head of household in the 1810 Federal Census of Hawley, Franklin County, Massachusetts (pg. 243), at which time his family was enumerated as follows:

1 male “over 45 years of age”  (Oliver);

1 male “of 10 and under 16”  (?);

1 female “over 45 years of age”  (mother Lucy);

1 female “of 26 and under 45”  (wife Persis); and,

1 female “of 16 and under 26”  (?).

The household of Oliver Edgerton was recorded in the 1820 Federal Census of Hawley, Franklin County, Massachusetts (pg. 21), with the following enumeration:

1 male “of 45 years and upwards” (Oliver);

1 male “of 10 and under 16”  (?);

2 females “of 45 years and upwards”  (wife Persis and mother Lucy); and,

2 females “under 10 years of age”  (?)

The household of Oliver Edgerton was recorded in the 1830 Federal Census of Hawley, Franklin County, Massachusetts (pg. 87), with the following enumeration:

1 male “of 60 and under 70”  (Oliver);

1 male “of 10 and under 15”  (?);

1 female “of 80 and under 90”  (?);

1 female “of 60 and under 70”  (wife Persis); and,

1 female “of 10 and under 15”  (?).

In the early 1830’s, Oliver Edgerton removed from Massachusetts and settled in Brecksville, Cuyahoga County, Ohio (just south of the present city of Cleveland).  Oliver’s brother, Joseph, had preceeded him there about fifteen years earlier, and several of Oliver’s nephews (sons of his brother Ezekiel) settled nearby in North Royalton, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

Mrs. Persis (Rice) Edgerton died at Brecksville, Ohio in the year 1836.  She was buried at the Rice Cemetery (aka “Barr Cemetery”), where her gravestone records her age as sixty-eight years.  Oliver was twice remarried: first in Medina County, Ohio on October 4, 1836 to Susana Hawks; and second in Cuyahoga County, Ohio on September 9, 1845 to Lucy McWade.

The household of Oliver Edgerton was recorded in the 1840 Federal Census of Brecksville, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, with the following enumeration:

1 male “of 70 and under 80”  (Oliver); and,

1 female “of 70 and under 80”  (second wife Susana).

Oliver Edgerton died at Brecksville, Ohio in the year 1849.  He may have been buried with his first wife, Persis, at the Rice Cemetery in Brecksville, although no gravestone is found there.

Oliver Edgerton, “of Brecksville, Ohio”, left a Last Will and Testament dated April 3, 1849 and proved on June 21, 1849 (see Cuyahoga County Probate, Common Pleas Probate, Docket A, Case 1250).  The will mentioned his wife, Lucy, Laura Edgerton, wife of his nephew, Oliver Edgerton 2nd, niece Mary Ann Duncia (that is, Dunsha), Candace Rice and nephew Oliver Edgerton 2nd.  Oliver’s wife, Lucy, and his nephew, Oliver Edgerton 2nd were executors of the will, which was witnessed by N. M. Humphrey and Aaron Rice Jr.

Original Source Documents:

1800 Federal Census – household of Oliver Edgerton; Hawley, Franklin (then Hampshire) Co., MA.

1810 Federal Census – household of Oliver Edgerton; Hawley, Franklin Co., MA.

1820 Federal Census – household of Oliver Edgerton; Hawley, Franklin Co., MA.

1830 Federal Census – household of Oliver Edgerton; Hawley, Franklin Co., MA.

1840 Federal Census – household of Oliver Edgerton; Brecksville, Cuyahoga Co., OH.