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Wiley Selden Edgerton, son of William Driggs and Helen Marion (Martin) Edgerton.                                                         PHOTO

Marcella M. Denning, daughter of Patrick and Margaret (Hamberry) Denning.                                                                       PHOTO

Children:

1. George Leland, b. October 7, 1876; Beaver Dam, Dodge Co., WI.
2. Ernest Selden, b. November 15, 1877; Calamus Twp., Dodge Co., WI.
3. Marguerite Mirriam, b. March 4, 1880; Beaver Dam, Dodge Co., WI.
4. Nellie May, b. August 22, 1882; Beaver Dam, Dodge Co., WI.
5. William John, b. March 7, 1885; Oshkosh, Winnebago Co., WI.
6. Daisy Faye Helen, b. September 22, 1886; Oshkosh, Winnebago Co., WI.
7. Winnifred Genevieve, b. March 30, 1894; Oshkosh, Winnebago Co., WI.

The following biography of Wiley Selden Edgerton has been provided by Mr. Foster Dunwiddie, from his extensive family research.  Mr. Dunwiddie is a grandson of Wiley’s younger brother, Wilfred Henry Edgerton (1871 – 1943).

“Wiley Selden Edgerton, son of William Driggs Edgerton and Helen Marion Martin, was born in Rome, Oneida County,  New York 13 August 1854.  Wiley died 4 March 1921 in Afton, Lincoln County, Wyoming, at 66 years of age.

He married Marcella Denning 22 November 1875 in Beaver Dam, Dodge County, Wisconsin.  Marcella was born 1 March 1858 in Beaver Dam, Dodge County, Wisconsin.  Marcella was the daughter of Patrick Denning and Margaret Hamberry.  Marcella died 25 July 1952 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, at 94 years of age.  She was buried 28 July 1952 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.

Marcella did not go west to join her husband, Wiley Edgerton, in Wyoming, when Wiley left Beaver Dam in the early 1900s.  Rather, she stayed behind in Beaver Dam with the younger members of their family.  Marcella, age 52, was recorded in the 1910 U.S. Census, living in the family home at 610 N. Center Street in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.  Also listed in the household were three daughters... Marguerite, age 30; Daisy, age 20; and Genevieve, age 16.  Marguerite listed her occupation as a teacher in the public schools.

Marguerite married Guy Tasker in August 1910 and moved to Dubuque, Iowa.  Here they were joined by  Marcella and her youngest daughter, Genevieve, by 1920.  Her daughter, Daisy, had apparently married Frank Morton in the interim and did not join them.

Both Marguerite and Genevieve were still living with the Taskers in Dubuque in 1930.

Some men are content to settle in one place and put down roots.  Their names are recorded in countless county histories across the nation. Staid, solid citizens, farming the land their fathers farmed, raising large families, serving on town boards, at peace with the world around them.  Wiley Selden Edgerton was not such a man.  His was a restless spirit.  He was a man on the move, a seeker of fortune.  The Spanish-American War had ended.  The West beckoned and like so many others he responded.

His father, William Driggs Edgerton, had some of the same spirit.  Shortly after Wiley was born, William Driggs Edgerton moved his young family west from Rome, New York to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin where they stayed three years.  They then returned to Pennsylvania where they resided for eight years.  In 1865, William Driggs Edgerton headed west again, this time to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where he bought a livery stable on Spring Street.  As a young man, Wiley Selden Edgerton worked for his father as a hostler in the family livery stable.

Following his marriage to Marcella M. Denning on 22 November 1875 in Beaver Dam, Wiley Selden Edgerton continued to live in Beaver Dam for about two years, then moved to Calamus Township in Dodge County where his oldest son, Ernest Selden Edgerton was born in 1877.  Three years later, he returned to Beaver Dam where two daughters, Marguerite and Nellie Edgerton, were born.  However, by 1885, the family had moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where his fifth child, William John Edgerton was born.

According to the 1886 Oshkosh City Directory, p. 177, Wiley and his family lived at 693 High Street in Oshkosh.  Wiley worked as a laborer at R. McMillen & Co., 633 High Street, who dealt in “lumber and logs.”  However, by 1889, Wiley had moved his family into a house at 15 Liberty Street (now razed) and was employed as a carpenter.  These were prosperous times and by 1893, Wiley had entered into a partnership with Henry S. Hunt as “carpenters and contractors”, with offices at 373 Main Street. [Wright's Directory of Oshkosh 1893, p. 150]

However, the Panic of 1893 brought hard times to the construction business.  In a letter to his sister, Ollie, in February 1895, Wiley wrote, "i have not had much work this winter   i am going to paint the inside of a house on tenth st this coming weak   i shall do the painting Papering and Kalsamining my self.”  A month later, he wrote to his brother, Fred, who was in Beaver Dam, “as for work if you can get me a job there i would be glad to come for the prospect are not the brightest hear that ever was.”  Finally, in 1896, Wiley and his family returned to Beaver Dam. William John Edgerton was eleven years old at the time.  In 1900, the family was living in the 2nd Ward of Beaver Dam where they were recorded in the 1900 Federal Census.  However, Wiley was apparently working for Aunt Sarah Williams on her farm near Fox Lake as “farm manager” in 1900, where he was also recorded in the 1900 U.S. Census along with his eldest son, Ernest Edgerton.

Ina (Edgerton) Dunwiddie remembered, “The Wiley Selden Edgertons lived on Park Avenue in Beaver Dam.  He worked for Aunt Sarah Williams who had a farm between Fox Lake and Randolph.”  (This was probably Sarah Edgerton, daughter of Hiram and Lucinda (Felton) Edgerton, who had married DeWitt Williams.)  However, a dispute arose between Wiley and Sarah Williams over the handling of some of her funds.  “Wiley left for the West and never returned.  His wife and family were left to fend for themselves.”  Apparently these events occurred shortly after 1900.  Wiley’s son, Ernest Edgerton, seems to have accompanied him, since Ernest was the operator of the Star Hotel in Afton, Colorado, in 1903, according to his daughter.

Wiley Selden Edgerton went west shortly after 1900 and settled in Afton, a small town in western Wyoming near the Idaho border.  According to his granddaughter, Helen (Edgerton) Williams, “Grandpa Wiley had a store in Afton, Wyoming, where he sold Lang Products.  He also went around in a covered wagon selling these Products.  I remember when he used to come to Oakley, he would park his team in our back yard and he would stay a week or more.  I used to sit out there with him and eat oranges and peanuts.  He told me if I would eat some of the orange rind it would be good for me.  My mama said he was also a cabinet maker and dealt in mining stocks.  I guess Gene Tasker found some of the stocks but none of them were any good.  He also restled [rustled] wild mustangs for the U. S. Army around the Utah border.”

His two sons, Earnest Selden Edgerton and William John Edgerton came west to join their father in western Wyoming.  They stayed on to marry and raise families of their own.  Wiley Selden Edgerton died in Afton on 4 March 1921.”

The household of “Wilie Edgerton” was recorded in the 1880 Federal Census of Beaver Dam City (Ward 4), Dodge County, Wisconsin (dwelling #159; family #171; enum. June 21, 1880), as follows:

The household of Wiley Edgerton was recorded in the 1900 Federal Census of Beaver Dam City (Ward 2), Dodge County, Wisconsin (pg. 32; dwelling #345; family #369; enum. June 13, 1900), as follows:

According to the above census record, Marcella was the mother of seven children, six of whom were still living.  Wiley’s occupation was listed as “farmer”, Ernest was listed as a “farm laborer”, and the five younger children were each noted as “at school”.  The family was residing on Park Avenue.  Curiously, Wiley and his son, Ernest, were recorded again in the 1900 Federal Census, in the household of Wiley’s cousin, Sarah Jane (Edgerton) Williams, in Fox Lake, Dodge County, Wisconsin (pg. 153; dwelling #102; family #103; enum. June 15, 1900).  Another cousin, Ina Dell Edgerton, was also living in this household.

Original Source Documents:

1880 Federal Census – household of Wiley Selden Edgerton; Beaver Dam City (Ward 4), Dodge Co., WI.

1900 Federal Census – household of Wiley Selden Edgerton; Beaver Dam City (Ward 2), Dodge Co., WI.