Asa Edgerton was born circa 1777 at Norwich, Connecticut, the youngest son of Joseph and Lucy (Lyon) Edgerton. He was baptized at the Bozrah Congregational Church on March 23, 1777. Asa was raised in Hawley, Franklin County, Massachusetts, where his parents settled very shortly after his birth.

Asa Edgerton was married at Norwich (now Huntington), Massachusetts to Lydia Washburn, daughter of Jonathan and Rebecca (Perkins) Washburn, who had come to western Massachusetts from Bridgewater, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. No primary record has been found of Lydia’s birth, but she was probably born circa 1775 in Norwich (Huntington), Massachusetts. Lydia’s parents had definitely settled in Huntington by the year 1790 when her father, Jonathan, and a brother, Luther, were both listed as heads of household in the Federal Census of that year.

Both the intention of Asa and Lydia’s marriage (on October 12, 1800) and the marriage itself (on November 4, 1800) were recorded in the original Vital Records Book of Norwich (Huntington), Massachusetts (Volume II, pp. 166, 220). According to the marriage record (VR 2:220), the ceremony was performed by the Rev. Benjamin R. Woodbridge; however, an announcement in the Hampshire Gazette on December 10, 1800 reported the following: “MARRIED, at Norwich, by the Rev. Mr. Tracy, Mr. Asa Edgerton of Hawley, to Miss Lydia Washburn of Norwich.” David W. Dumas in his article “Jonathan Washburn of Norwich, Massachusetts” (The Mayflower Descendant; January 1992; Vol. 42, No. 1), speculates that the “Rev. Mr. Tracy” referred to above was the Rev. Stephen Tracy, Benjamin Woodbridge’s predecessor at the pulpit of the First Congregational Church of Norwich (Huntington), and that the ceremony may have been performed jointly by the two ministers.

Unfortunately, the family of Asa and Lydia was not entered in the vital records at Hawley or Norwich. Most of the children were presmably born at Norwich (Huntington) where Asa is known to have purchased property in 1804 (see Hampshire County Deeds 22:355 and 23:382). Asa and Lydia very likely removed to Norwich shortly after their marriage, as Asa referred to himself in a number of later deeds as “of Norwich” (ie. Huntington).

The History of the town of Hawley, Franklin County, Massachusetts (William Giles Atkins; West Cummington, Mass.: privately published; 1887; pg. 102), provides the biographical sketch of Asa Edgerton:

“Asa married Lydia Washburn and settled in the west part of the town. They had eight children: Laura and Electa died in childhood, Aurelia, Miranda, Lydia, Sarah, Samuel lives in Palmer, runs an iron foundry, Mary Ann, lives in Cleveland, O. From Hawley he removed to Oneida Co., N. Y., where he died soon after.”

Additional information on the family of Asa and Lydia (Washburn) Edgerton is derived from census, vital records and burial data. The eldest two daughters, Laura and Electa, were noted as having died young, but no burial site for either has been located. Aurelia died unmarried on October 23, 1826 and was buried at the Bozrah Cemetery nearby her grandparents, Joseph and Lucy Edgerton. Lydia married Chandler Veber and removed soon afterwards to Brecksville, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Miranda was married to Chester W. Upton and resided in Hawley and later Williamsburg, Massachusetts. Sarah M. was married first to Martin Brackett and second to Gardner Wilder; she lived in Buckland, Massachusetts. The only son, Samuel, was married to Hannah Yates and resided in Albany and Rensselaer Counties in New York, later removing to Palmer, Massachusetts. The youngest daughter, Mary Ann, removed with many of her cousins to Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where she was married to Eli Dunsha.

When the 1810 Federal Census was taken, “Lydia Adjutant” was listed as a head of household in Norwich, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. This is believed to have been Mrs. Lydia (Washburn) Edgerton, her husband being for some reason absent when the census enumerator came. “Adjutant” (also “Adjutent”, “Adjadent”, etc.) was a common misspelling of the surname Edgerton. It occurs quite frequently in early census records and was no doubt a phonetic rendering of the name.

The household of “Lydia Adjutant” was recorded in the 1810 Federal Census of Norwich, Hampshire County, Massachusetts (pg. 108), with the following enumeration:

2 females “of 26 and under 45” (Lydia and ?);

2 females “of 10 and under 16” (?); and,

4 females “under 10 years of age” (daughters Aurelia, Lydia, Miranda – and either Laura or Electa).

According to the History of the town of Hawley (cited above), Asa removed from Hawley “to Oneida Co., NY, where he died soon after.” To date, no primary record of Asa’s death has been found, either in Massachusetts or New York.

David Dumas (Joseph Edgerton of Norwich, CT and his Descendants) speculates that Asa Edgerton of Hawley, Massachusetts may have been the “Asa Edgerton, merchant, aged 36, who died in Albany on 21 Oct. 1815”, as published in the Columbian Centennial. Subsequent research has proven this supposition false. The Asa Edgerton who died in 1815 was Asa Edgerton, son of Asa and Eunice (Storrs) Edgerton of Randolph, Vermont, who was born on October 4, 1779. This latter Asa Edgerton resided in Royalton, Windsor County, Vermont and is known to have died intestate in the year 1815, when probate was filed on his estate in Windsor County, Vermont (see Hartford District Probate Records, Volumes 5-6). Furthermore, this Asa Edgerton is buried with his young son, Justin Morgan Edgerton, at the First Presbyterian Cemetery in Albany, where their gravestone inscriptions provide additional corroboration of these facts.

There is currently no record of the death of Mrs. Lydia (Washburn) Edgerton. She may have been the “Lydia Edgerton” who was recorded as a head of household in the 1820 Federal Census of Ashfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts, with a household including only herself (aged 26-45) and one male under 10 (son Samuel). If so, the five surviving daughters (Aurelia, Lydia, Miranda, Sarah and Mary Ann) must have been residing outside the home.

Original Source Documents:

1810 Federal Census – household of Mrs. Lydia (Washburn) Edgerton; Norwich (now Huntington), Hampshire Co., MA.

For the ancestry of Lydia (Washburn) Edgerton, consult:

Dumas, David W.; “Jonathan Washburn of Norwich, Massachusetts”, The Mayflower Descendant, January 1992, Vol. 42, No. 1.