The

Edgerton

Database

Home

Index

Sources

Search

Researchers

Notes...

Contact info

Photos

Links

Credits…

Eleazer Edgerton, son of Joshua and Ruth (Kingsbury) Edgerton.

Sarah Hyde daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Hazen) Hyde.

Children:

1. Anna, b. February 16, 1773; Bennington, Bennington Co., VT.
2. Celinda, b. March 25, 1775; Bennington, Bennington Co., VT.
3. Sarah, b. ~1778; Bennington, Bennington Co., VT.
4. Uriah, b. October 12, 1780; Bennington, Bennington Co., VT.
5. Louisa, b. September 5, 1783; Bennington, Bennington Co., VT.
6. Hannah, b. May 10, 1785; Bennington, Bennington Co., VT.
7. Lucretia, b. ~1792; Bennington, Bennington Co., VT.

Eleazer Edgerton was born August 8, 1748 at Norwich, Connecticut, the fourth son and seventh child of Joshua and Ruth (Kingsbury) Edgerton.  He was raised in Norwich, and upon his maturity removed to southern Vermont (then part of New Hampshire).  Eleazer settled in the town of Bennington, where he resided for the remainder of his life.  Eleazer’s younger brother, Uriah, also settled in Bennington circa 1780, as did a nephew, Roswell Edgerton briefly.

Eleazer was married (probably circa 1773 at Norwich, Connecticut, or Bennington, Vermont) to Sarah Hyde, daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Hazen) Hyde.  Eleazer and Sarah resided in North Bennington, Vermont and had a large family of seven children – six daughters, Anna, Celinda, Sarah, Louisa, Hannah and Lucretia; and one son, Uriah.  All of the children survived to adulthood; only the youngest daughter, Lucretia, remained single.  Eleazer made his living as a carpenter.

Eleazer Edgerton served with the Vermont Troops in the Revolutionary War.  He was a scout and private and served at the Battle of Bennington on August 16, 1777 as a second lieutenant under Capt. Clark in Gen. Stark’s brigade.  Eleazer Edgerton was also listed on the pay roll of “Capt. Joseph Safford’s Company of Militia in Col. Ebenr Walbridge’s Regiment, on an Alarm, commencing 2nd August 1781, and ending the 8th, both days included”.  According to the pay roll, Eleazer was paid ₤1.4 per day for 2 days service and 32 miles travelled (see Goodrich, John E., ed.; The State of Vermont. Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War 1775 to 1783; Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle; 1904; pg. 415).  He was listed in the DAR Patriot Index and a Revolutionary War marker stands beside his grave at the Old First Church Cemetery in Bennington.

The following excerpts relating to Eleazer Edgerton are found in Memorials of a Century, Embracing a Record of Individuals and Events Chiefly in The Early History of Bennington Vermont  (Jennings, Isaac; Boston, Mass.: Gould and Lincoln; 1869; pp. 196-197 and 296-297):

“Eleazer Edgerton, in the midst of the second engagement, was firing away from behind a tree, when suddenly he espied a very young man looking round anxiously for a standing-place alike secure.  ‘Here, boy,’ shouted he, ‘take my tree; you fight behind, and I’ll fight before.  The rascals daren’t shoot me; they know me.’  And in an instant he had planted his giant frame back to the trunk of the tree; and there he stood firing until the Hessians did know him, and fear him, and fled beyond the reach of his bullets.”

“Eleazer Edgerton was here prior to 1775.  As before mentioned, he was one of the scouts in the employment of the Council of Safety, who brought intelligence to Gen. Stark of the presence of a hositle party at Cambridge on the 13th of August, three days before the battle; and an anectode is related illustrative of his prowess in the battle.  He was the father of Uriah Edgerton, Esq., and resided a half a mile or so to the north of the late residence of the latter.  His wife was a daughter of the Mr. Hyde, whose family resided upon the place now owned and occupied by Giles Jewett.  She was a relation of Chancellor Walworth.  Mrs. Stephen Hinsdill was his daughter.”

Eleazer Edgerton was listed as a head of household in the 1800 Federal Census of Bennington, Bennington County, Vermont.  His household consisted of the following individuals:

1 male “of 45 and upwards”  (Eleazer);

2 males “of 16 and under 26”  (son Uriah and ?);

1 female “of 45 and upwards”  (wife Sarah);

1 female “of 16 and under 26”  (daughter Louisa);

1 female “of 10 and under 16”  (daughter Hannah); and,

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

The household of Eleazer Edgerton was recorded again in the 1810 Federal Census of Bennington, Bennington County, Vermont (pg. 86), with the following enumeration:

1 male “of 45 and upwards”  (Eleazer);

1 male “under 10 years of age”  (?);

1 female “of 45 and upwards”  (wife Sarah); and,

1 female “of 26 and under 45”  (daughter Lucretia ? – actually aged 18).

At the time of the 1820 Federal Census, Eleazer and Sarah Edgerton were presumably residing in Bennington with their son, Uriah Edgerton, whose household included one male and two females over the age of forty-five.  Eleazer himself was not listed as a head of household in the 1820 Bennington Census.

Eleazer Edgerton died at Bennington, Vermont on October 23, 1820.  The following obituary notice appeared in The Rutland Weekly Herald on Tuesday, November 7, 1820:

“Died in Bennington, 23 ult., Eleazer Edgerton, 71”

A similar notice was published in the Woodstock Observer on Tuesday, November 7, 1820; and a detailed obituary was published in the Vermont Gazette (Bennington, Vermont) on October 31, 1820.

Eleazer Edgerton was buried at the Old First Church Cemetery in Bennington Village.  His gravestone was inscribed with the following epitaph:

Mrs. Sarah (Hyde) Edgerton survived her husband nine years.  She died at Bennington, Vermont on June 16, 1829, aged 75 years.  The following obituary notice was published in the Vermont Gazette (Bennington, Vermont) on Tuesday, June 23, 1829:

“DIED, In this town on Tuesday last Mrs. Sarah Edgerton aged 74, relict of the late Eleazer Edgerton.  She was a worthy and valuable woman.”

Sarah was buried at the Hinsdillville Cemetery in North Bennington, where her son, Uriah, and several descendants were later interred.

Most of Eleazer and Sarah’s children removed from Bennington.   Reuben H. Walworth’s Hyde Genealogy (Albany, New York: J. Munsell, Publisher; 1864; pp. 623-624), gives the following account of their children, reportedly derived from the personal recollections of their son, Uriah, and other descendants:

“Uriah, b. 12 Oct., 1780, at Bennington.  He m. 16 March, 1801, Lydia Fay. b. 12 Jan., 1781, daughter of Jonas Fay and Lydia Warner of Bennington.  They settled at Bennington, where she d. 19 Sept., 1840 [sic].  He was living at North Bennington in 1860.  They had seven children, born at Bennington.

Anna, b. at Bennington.  She m. Erastus Taylor, and removed to Cooperstown, N.Y., where she died.

Celinda, b. at Bennington.  She m. Frederick Denio.  They removed to Schenectady, N.Y.

Sarah, b. at Bennington.  She m. Zebulon Gibbs, and removed to the west.

Lovisa, b. at Bennington.  She m. Stephen Whipple, and lived at Shaftsbury, Vt.

Lucretia, b. at Bennington.  She d. 12 May, 1858, at Grand Rapids, Mich., unm.

Hannah, b. 10 May, 1785, at Bennington.  She m. 18 Jan., 1807, Stephen Hinsdale, b. 12 Feb., 1787 at Bennington, son of Joseph Hinsdale and Hannah Bingham.  He was a merchant and manufacturer, and they settled at Bennington.  In 1836, they removed to Grand Rapids, Mich., where he d. 15 March, 1848, and she d. June, 1860.  They had eight children, born at Bennington.”

[Note:  Several secondary accounts (eg. Hyde Genealogy, The Hazen Family in America, DAR application files) incorrectly attribute death dates of October 12, 1819 and June 16, 1824 to Eleazer and Sarah (Hyde) Edgerton, respectively.  No primary documentation is found for these dates, and all known records (ie. the aforementioned obituaries, gravestones, etc.) contradict them.]

Original Source Documents:

1800 Federal Census – household of Eleazer Edgerton; Bennington, Bennington Co., VT.

1810 Federal Census – household of Eleazer Edgerton; Bennington, Bennington Co., VT.

Obituary – Eleazer Edgerton; Vermont Gazette (Bennington, Vermont) – Tuesday, October 31, 1820.

Obituary – Eleazer Edgerton; Woodstock Observer – Tuesday, November 7, 1820.

Gravestone photo – Eleazer Edgerton; Old First Church Cemetery; Bennington, Bennington Co., VT.

Obituary – Mrs. Sarah (Hyde) Edgerton; Vermont Gazette (Bennington, Vermont) – Tuesday, June 23, 1829.

For the ancestry of Sarah (Hyde) Edgerton, consult:

• Walworth, Reuben H.; Hyde Genealogy; Albany, New York: J. Munsell; 1864.