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The Edgerton Database |
John Edgerton, son of John and Ruth (Adgate) Edgerton.
Elizabeth Prentice, daughter of Stephen and Phebe (Harris) Prentice.
Children:
John Edgerton III was born in Norwich, Connecticut on August 16, 1720, the eldest son of John Edgerton II and his first wife, Ruth Adgate. He was baptized on August 21, 1720 at the First Congregational Church of Norwich. John was married in Norwich, on May 30, 1750, to his step-sister, Elizabeth Prentice. (She was the daughter of Phebe (Harris) Crank Prentice Edgerton, his father’s second wife.) John and Elizabeth lived in Norwich, where they raised a family of five children: four sons and one daughter – the eldest son, John, having died in infancy. John Edgerton earned his living as a farmer and planter. Five of John and Elizabeth’s children (all except the first-born, John) were baptized at the First Congregational Church of Norwich. John Edgerton died in Norwich, Connecticut on February 28, 1778, aged 57 years, as recorded on his headstone at the Old Norwich Town Cemetery where he lies buried nearby his parents, John and Ruth Edgerton. His wife, Elizabeth, survived him, but as yet there is no record of her death or burial. John Edgerton died without leaving a will. Inventory of the estate of “John Edgerton, late of Norwich” was taken in Norwich on May 18, 1778; and a subsequent division of the estate was returned on April 5th, 1779, also in Norwich. The probate record (Probate Records of Norwich, New London Co., CT, Vol. 5-6, 1773 – 1780) mentions widow, Elizabeth, and all five surviving children, ie. “John the eldest son, Hannah the only daughter, Stephen the second son, Jedediah the third son, and Andrew the fourth and youngest son.” The entire estate, comprising 72 acres total, was divided among the five children, with eldest son John receiving a double (or “two sixth”) share. Mrs. Elizabeth Edgerton, as the widow, was to have one-third of the land, barn, house, and personal estate items. In addition, Elizabeth’s rights to the house were specifically laid out: she was to have “for her use and improvement during her natural life one third part of the dwelling house on the farm; the southernmost room in the house with the one third part of the cellar and the third part of the chamber and the third part of the well with liberty in the kitchen to wash and bake.” A transcript of the complete estate distribution is attached. Also among the probate files are two bonds, dated
March 26, 1779, appointing Elisha Edgerton (presumably John’s younger
brother), as guardian to the two younger sons, Jedediah (then aged 15) and
Andrew (then aged 11). The bonds were
signed by the elder brother, John, and the aforementioned Elisha Edgerton. No record has been found of the death or burial of Mrs. Elizabeth (Prentice) Edgerton. If she was buried next to her husband at the Old Revolutionary Cemetery, no stone was erected. It is known that Elizabeth was still living as of March 4, 1793, when a deed between her sons Jedediah (grantor) and Stephen (grantee) mentioned land “now under the Incumbrance of the Widows Dower...during her natural life” (Norwich Land Records, Vol. 29, p. 99). Similarly a deed dated May 30, 1797, from Stephen Edgerton to Daniel Huntington also refers to land “being now under the Incumbrance of the widow’s dower” (Norwich Land Records, Vol. 33, p. 17). John and Elizabeth’s only daughter, Hannah, married as his second wife, Jabez Tracy (also of Norwich) and died in 1790 at the age of 37. All four of the sons removed from Norwich during or shortly after the Revolution. The eldest, John, went to Vermont with his uncle, Capt. Daniel Edgerton, circa 1780 and later settled in Cabot in the northern part of that state; Stephen served as a private in the Revolution and subsequently removed to Sangerfield, Oneida County, New York; Jedediah married Mrs. Esther (DeWolf) Wallace of Lyme, Connecticut and resided there for a decade or so before removing to New York State; and the youngest son, Andrew, resided briefly in Wallingford, Vermont, but then removed to New York State, settling first in Palantine (Montgomery County) and then Rock Stream (Yates County). |