born:	~1780. (from age at death, GI – “ae 39y”)
died:	November 15, 1819; Brookfield, Orange Co., VT. (GI)
buried:	Old Center Cemetery; Brookfield, Orange Co., VT. (GI)

Children:

Lavinia, b. 1819; Brookfield, Orange Co., VT.

Ariel Edgerton was born in Norwich, Connecticut on October 8, 1757, the youngest son of William and Lydia (Barstow) Edgerton. He was but three years old when his father died in 1760, and eleven when his mother died in 1769. Ariel’s uncle, Joshua Edgerton, was granted legal guardianship of him in a bond dated April 5, 1774 at Norwich.

Ariel Edgerton enlisted from Norwich and served during the Revolution as a privateer in the Connecticut Continental Line. He was listed as a private and a privateer in the DAR Patriot Index (Part I, pg. 927); the entry also lists Ariel’s date of birth (“10-8-1757”) and date of death (“10-11-1838”).

Ariel married first Edna (aka “Edney”) Huntington, daughter of Nathan and Mary (Mason) Huntington of Windham, Connecticut. Ariel and Edna had a family of nine children, all but the youngest born in Norwich. The household of Ariel Edgerton was recorded in the 1790 Federal Census of New London County, Connecticut with the following enumeration:

1 male “of 16 and upwards” (Ariel);

3 males “under 16 years of age” (sons William, Charles, and Ariel); and,

3 females (wife Edna, and daughters Lydia and Mary).

In 1796, Ariel removed with his family to Brookfield, in Orange County, Vermont. His elder brother, Asa, had previously settled just south of there, in Randolph, Vermont.

Ariel Edgerton was listed as a head of household in the 1800 Federal Census of Brookfield, Orange County, VT. His name was written as “Uriah” and the household was enumerated as follows:

1 male “age 45 and upwards” (Ariel - actually aged 43);

2 males “of 10 and under 16” (sons William and Charles);

4 males “under 10 years of age” (sons Ariel, Eber, Nathan and James);

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

2 females “of 16 and under 26” (daughters Lydia and Mary).

Mrs. Edna (Huntington) Edgerton died on December 2, 1813 – presumably at Brookfield, Vermont. Ariel was remarried in 1817 to Mrs. Susannah Stratton. Ariel and Susannah had one daughter, Lavinia (or Lovina), born in 1819. Susannah died on November 15, 1819, in Brookfield and was buried at the Old Center Cemetery, where her headstone reads: “SUSANNAH / Wife of / Ariel Edgerton / DIED / Nov. 15, 1819 / AE 39 y”. It is speculated that she may have died in childbirth, but no proof of this has been found.

On May 9, 1818, Ariel “Egerton” (“aged 59, residing in Brookfield”) applied for a Revolutionary War pension. He was placed on the Orange County Pension rolls on September 9, 1819, with an annual allowance of 96 dollars, 0 cents. He received a total disbursement of 175 dollars, 16 cents. He applied again on March 4, 1831, and was subsequently placed on the pension rolls on December 8, 1832, with an annual allowance of 50 dollars, 0 cents, and a total disbursement of 150 dollars, 0 cents.

The household of Ariel Edgerton was recorded in the 1820 Federal Census of Brookfield, Orange County, Vermont (pg. 303), with the following enumeration:

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

2 females “of 26 and under 45” (daughters Lydia and Mary); and,

1 female “under 10 years of age” (daughter Lavinia).

The Revolutionary War Pension file of Ariel “Egerton” (file W19219, see Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files, Vol. I; Virgil D. White, 1990, pg. 1082) reports that in 1820 Ariel had living with him three daughters: Lydia, aged 39; Mary, aged 37; and Lovina, aged 14 months”. In 1832, he referred to a deceased son (ie. William) who had left a widow. Witnesses mentioned in the file include son William and his wife, Sophia (1822); and son Ariel Jr. and his wife “A.P.” , that is, Abigail Proctor Edgerton (1823).

Ariel Edgerton Sr. was not listed as a head of household in the 1830 Federal Census. He may have been residing at this time with his recently-widowed daughter-in-law, Sophia (Hubbard) Edgerton. The household of “Mrs. Sophia Edgerton” was enumerated in the 1830 Federal Census of Brookfield, Orange County, Vermont (pg. 149), and included a male “of 70 and under 80”.

According to the DAR Patriot Index, Ariel Edgerton died in Brookfield, Vermont on October 11, 1838. As yet, the burial locations of Ariel and his first wife, Edna, have not been ascertained. The following notice of Ariel’s death was printed in the Vermont Chronicle on November 7, 1838:

“DEATHS…In Brookfield, Mr. Ariel Edgerton, a Revolutionary soldier, 81.”

Three of the sons of Ariel and Edna (Huntington) Edgerton – Charles, Nathan and James – settled in St. Lawrence County, New York in the northwestern corner of that state. Another son, Ariel Jr., lived in Northfield, Vermont and later moved to Quechee, in Windsor County, Vermont. Only one of the sons – William – remained in Brookfield. Very little is known about Ariel’s daughters. According to Edgerton Family Genealogy (Ida Ferry Welch, et. al., 1964): Lydia married Abiel Chamberlain and died in 1858, Mary died in 1845 unmarried, and Lavinia (daughter by second wife) “married and went west”.