The

Edgerton

Database

Index

Sources

Hiram R. Edgerton, son of Robert and Abigail (Bowen) Edgerton. PHOTO

born:	June 14, 1823; Wallingford, Rutland Co., VT. (FG1)
died:	April 5, 1883; Danby, Rutland Co., VT. (VR 3:41:9) (GI)
buried:	Scottsville Cemetery; Danby, Rutland Co., VT. (GI)

married:

September 5, 1850; Shelburne, Chittenden Co., VT.

Mary Ann Irish, daughter of Benjamin and Phebe (Baldridge) Irish. PHOTO

(previously married to Oscar Edgerton)

born:	May 12, 1824; Hinesburg, Chittenden Co., VT.
died:	December 5, 1894; Danby, Rutland Co., VT. (GI)
buried:	Scottsville Cemetery; Danby, Rutland Co., VT. (GI)

Children:

Hiram B., b. July 17, 1851; Dorset, Bennington Co., VT.
John C., b. December 31, 1852; Danby, Rutland Co., VT.
Henry R., b. August 15, 1854; Danby, Rutland Co., VT.
George Erwin, b. October 21, 1856; Danby, Rutland Co., VT.
William H., b. March 30, 1859; Danby, Rutland Co., VT.
Manora Jane, b. March 2, 1861; Danby, Rutland Co., VT.
Elmer S., b. January 12, 1864; Danby, Rutland Co., VT.
Mary Ann, b. May 8, 1867; Danby, Rutland Co., VT.

Hiram R. Edgerton was born in Wallingford, Vermont on June 14, 1823, the eldest son of Robert and Abigail (Bowen) Edgerton. His middle name has not been ascertained, but a middle initial “R.” is found in a number of records (eg. his gravestone and Danby death record, as well as miscellaneous military and census records). Being the eldest son, is likely that Hiram’s middle name was Robert, after his father and grandfather.

Hiram was born in Wallingford, but was raised largely in North Dorset (Bennington County, Vermont), where his father had settled in the early 1830’s. Hiram was a farmer and laborer. Brian G. Edgerton (a descendant of Hiram R. Edgerton) refers to him as a “Jack of All Trades, doing general farmwork on his farm and adjacent neighbors’ farms in Danby – carpenter, butcher, and general laborer (e.g. placing/repairing stone walls).”

Hiram was married on September 5, 1850 to Mary Ann (Irish) Edgerton, the widow of his second cousin, Oscar Edgerton. Mary Ann was the daughter of Benjamin and Phebe (Baldridge) Irish and was born in Hinesburg, Vermont on May 12, 1824. Her younger sister, Anna, later married Hiram’s brother, Robert.

Hiram and Mary Ann had a family of eight children – six sons and two daughters – in addition to Mary Ann’s son, Oscar A. Edgerton, by her first husband. The family lived in the northern district of Dorset on the Danby border, and records for the family are found in both townships – the majority being in Danby. The births of the youngest two children – Elmer and Mary Ann – were recorded in the Danby Vital Records.

The History and Map of Danby (J.C. Williams, 1869; pg. 141) provides the following biographical entry for Hiram R. Edgerton:

“EDGERTON, HIRAM. R., son of Robert Edgerton, of Dorset, who died in 1859, m. widow Mary Ann Edgerton, and lives on the place formerly owned by Welcome Handy. They have seven children: Oscar, Hiram B., John C., Henry, George, Minora, and Mary Ann.”

The household of Hiram Edgerton was recorded in the 1860 Federal Census of Mount Tabor, Rutland County, Vermont (pg. 206; dwelling #281; family #285; enum. June 14, 1860), as follows:

Hiram Edgerton	37	b. VT	farmer $100 personal estate
Mary	36	b. VT
Hiram	9	b. VT
John	7	b. VT
Henry	6	b. VT
George	3	b. VT
Wm.	1	b. VT
Oscar A.	10	b. VT

Two of Hiram and Mary Ann’s sons died in infancy – William and Elmer. The first of these, William H., died in March of 1865 during the widespread Scarlet Fever outbreak of that year. Hiram’s brother, Robert, lost three of his daughters to the disease in that year.

Hiram R. Edgerton served in the Union Army during the Civil War. He enlisted on December 16, 1863 as a private in E Company, 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters Regiment. The Second Sharpshooters Regiment, originally mustered in 1861, was with the Army of the Potomac and contained ten recruits from the town of Danby, all of whom are believed to have returned home. On February 25, 1865, Hiram was transferred to G Company, 4th Infantry Regiment. In March and April of 1865, the regiment fought at the three battles in Petersburg, Virginia. Hiram Edgerton was mustered out on July 13, 1865 [see Roster of Vermont Volunteers During the War of the Rebellion 1861-66 (1892).] Hiram later received a bounty from the town of Danby for his Civil War Service. The bounty roster from the town, as printed in History and Map of Danby (J.C. Williams, 1869; pg. 297), listed the following particulars for Hiram R. Edgerton:

Age at enlistment:	40
Company:	E
Regiment:	2 S.S.
State:	VT
Date of enlistment:	Dec. 16, ‘63
Term of enlistment:	3 years
Bounty from the town:	$500.00

The household of Hiram Edgerton was recorded in the 1870 Federal Census of Danby, Rutland County, Vermont (pg. 405; dwelling #96; family #95; enum. August 11, 1870), as follows:

Hiram Edgerton	47	b. VT	Farm Laborer
Mary	46	b. VT	Keeping House
Oscar	21	b. VT	Farm Laborer
Hiram	19	b. VT	Farm Laborer
John	17	b. VT	Farm Laborer
Henry	16	b. VT	Farm Laborer
George	14	b. VT	At home
Nora	9	b. VT	At home
Minnie	3	b. VT
Benjamin Irish	69	b. VT	Farm Laborer

The household of Hiram Edgerton was recorded in the 1880 Federal Census of Danby, Rutland County, Vermont (pp. 110-111; dwelling #62; family #70; enum. June 5, 1880), as follows:

Name	Rel.	Age	Bp	F Bp	M Bp	Occ
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiram Edgerton		56	VT	VT	VT	farmer
Mary A.	wife	56	VT	VT	VT	keeping house
Oscar	son	30	VT	VT	VT	farm laborer
George	son	22	VT	VT	VT	farm laborer
Minnie	dau.	13	VT	VT	VT	attending school

Child’s Gazeteer of 1881-82 (pg. 323) provides the following entry for Hiram Edgerton:

“Edgerton…Hiram R. – R. 30, farmer”

Also listed in the Gazeteer of that year were Hiram’s sons, Hiram B., Henry and George, as well as his stepson, Oscar, his younger brother, Robert, and a nephew, Albert. They were all residing in Danby.

Hiram Edgerton died in Danby, Vermont on April 5, 1883. His death record in Danby (VR 3:41:9), lists his name as “H.R. Edgerton” and states that he was a “day laborer”, born in Wallingford, Vermont, aged fifty-nine years old and had died “by a fall”. Hiram was buried at the Scottsville Cemetery, just north of the village of Danby. His headstone there records that he died “April 5, 1883, aged 59 years and 9 months.”

Mrs. Mary Ann (Irish) Edgerton died in Danby, Vermont on December 5, 1894. She was buried beside her husband in the family plot at Scottsville Cemetery, where her gravestone records her death on the above date, “aged 70 years and 6 months”.

Original Source Documents:

1860 Federal Census – household of Hiram R. Edgerton; Mount Tabor, Rutland Co., VT.

1870 Federal Census – household of Hiram R. Edgerton; Danby, Rutland Co., VT – page 1.

1870 Federal Census – household of Hiram R. Edgerton; Danby, Rutland Co., VT – page 2.

1880 Federal Census – household of Hiram R. Edgerton; Danby, Rutland Co., VT – page 1.

1880 Federal Census – household of Hiram R. Edgerton; Danby, Rutland Co., VT – page 2.

Gravestone photo – Hiram R. Edgerton & Mrs. Mary Ann (Irish) Edgerton; Scottsville Cemetery; Danby, Rutland Co., VT.

For the ancestry of Mary Ann (Irish) Edgerton, consult:

§ Irish, William Luther & Stella Bertha; Descendants of John Irish, The Immigrant 1629-1963 and Allied Families; Freeport, Maine: The Dingley Press; 1964.