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Edgerton

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John Edgerton, son of Samuel and Margaret (Abell) Edgerton.

 

born:

June 6, 1731; Norwich, New London Co., CT.  (VRp I:106)

 

married:

1:  March 24, 1756; Norwich, New London Co., CT.  (VRp I:336)

 

Freelove Armstrong, daughter of John and Ann (Worth) Armstrong.

 

born:

April 5, 1731; Norwich, New London Co., CT.  (VRp I:62)

died:

September 19, 1778; Norwich, New London Co., CT.  (VRp I:415)

 

Children:

  1. Lucretia, b. November 12, 1757; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
  2. David, b. March 11, 1759; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
  3. Samuel, b. September 4, 1761; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
  4. Abel, b. April 28, 1763; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
  5. Olive, b. June 7, 1765; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
  6. Welthea, b. August 14, 1767; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
  7. Dan, b. January 26, 1771; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
  8. Lois, b. February 10, 1774; Norwich, New London Co., CT.
  9. Freelove, b. August 7, 1776; Norwich, New London Co., CT.

 

 

 

married:

2:  June 9, 1784; Mansfield, Tolland Co., CT.  (VRp 235)

 

Sarah Crocker

 

 

 

 


John Edgerton was born at Norwich, Connecticut on June 6, 1731, the second son of Samuel and Margaret (Abell) Edgerton.  He was raised in Norwich and married there, on March 24, 1756, Freelove Armstrong, the daughter of John and Ann (Worth) Armstrong of Norwich.  Freelove was born in Norwich on April 5, 1731.

 

John and Freelove lived in Norwich, where they had a family of nine children – four sons and five daughters.  The family was recorded in the Vital Records of Norwich (VRp I:336).  One of the children – next-to-youngest daughter Lois – died in infancy.  The record of the family in Norwich also lists the death of Mrs. Freelove Edgerton on September 19, 1778.  She was probably buried in one of the old Norwich cemeteries, although no gravestone has been located for her.

 

John may have been the John Edgerton who served during the Revolution in Capt. Benjah Leffingwell’s company of the Connecticut militia in 1777.  Documentation of any military service, though, has not been found, and there were a number of contemporary John Edgertons in Norwich at this time.  John’s eldest son, David, is known to have served in the Revolution.

 

Circa 1784, John Edgerton removed from Norwich and settled just north in the town of Mansfield, in Tolland County (then Windham County), Connecticut.  On April 26, 1784, John Edgerton, “of Norwich”, purchased 150 acres of land in “in the North Easterly part of sd Mansfield Society”, from John Hunt, “of Mansfield”, for the price of 300 pounds.  The deed, witnessed by Elijah Babcock and Constant Southworth, was executed on April 26, 1784 and recorded the same day (Mansfield LR 10:110).  In 1786, John deeded a portion of this property (15 acres) to his son, Abel, “for the consideration of six pounds lawful money and for the love and affection I have and bear for my son, Abel Edgerton”.  In this latter deed, both John and Abel were termed “of Mansfield”.  The deed, witnessed by Constant Southworth and Elijah Southworth, was executed on April 14, 1786 and recorded on August 21, 1787 (Mansfield LR 11:300).

 

John Edgerton married as his second wife, Sarah Crocker.  Their marriage – on June 9, 1784 – was recorded in the Mansfield Vital Records (VRp 235).  The parentage of Mrs. Sarah (Crocker) Edgerton has not been investigated.

 

The household of John Edgerton was recorded in the 1790 Federal Census of Mansfield, Tolland County, Connecticu (pg. 256), as follows:

 

1 male “of 16 years and upward”  (John);

1 male “under 16 years”  (son Dan? – actually aged 19); and,

2 females  (second wife Sarah, and daughter Freelove).

 

Residing adjacent to him at this time and listed on the same census page of the census roll were two of John’s elder sons, David and Abel.

 

The following notice was published in the Windham Herald on Saturday, May 24, 1794:

 

“To be sold at public vendue, for hard money, at the sign-post in Mansfield, as the law directs, so much of the real estate of the following persons, non-resident proprietors of the town of Mansfield, as will pay their state and town taxes, in the hands of the subscriber to collect, on the list, 1792, with the lawful charges arising thereon.  The sales to be as follows, viz. Hezekiah Bissell, John Edgerton, Roswell Fox, Jesse Funt, Thom. Turner, Irena Porter, Eunice Edgerton, at the sign-post in the first society in said Mansfield, on the 1st day of July next. Also, Moses Webster, Nathaniel Eaton, Bradford Newcomb, at the signpost in the second society in said Mansfield, on the 4th day of August next.  The sales to begin at one o’clock in the afternoon, on each of said days.  Amasa Storrs, Collector.  Mansfield, May 17, 1794.”

 

By the year 1800, John Edgerton had removed from Mansfield and settled in the town of Monson, in Hampden County, Massachusetts – just north of the Connecticut border and contigious to Tolland County.  Two of his sons, David and Dan, also settled in Monson at this time.  John Edgerton and Dan Edgerton were both listed as heads of households in the 1800 Federal Census of Monson (pg. 266), residing on adjacent lands.  The household of John Edgerton was enumerated as follows:

 

1 male “over 45 years of age”  (John);

1 female “over 45 years of age”  (second wife Sarah);

1 female “of 16 and under 26”  (probably daughter Freelove).

 

At the time of the 1810 Federal Census, John Edgerton and his son, Dan, were recorded as a single household in Monson, Hampden County, Massachusetts (pg. 408).  John was listed as the head of household, which was enumerated as follows:

 

1 male “over 45 years of age”  (John);

1 male “of 26 and under 45”  (son Dan);

5 males “under 10 years of age”  (grandsons Austin, Orrin, Dan, Artemis and Edwin);

1 female “over 45 years of age”  (wife Sarah); and,

1 female “of 26 and under 45”  (daughter-in-law Mindwell).

 

This is the last record of John Edgerton.  No death record or burial site has been located for him, nor for his second wife, Sarah.  Both probably died prior to 1820, as they were not enumerated in the Federal Census of that year.

 

John Edgerton’s youngest son, Dan, was married twice and resided in Monson for a number of years; he later returned to Connecticut, where he died at Vernon (Tolland County) in 1830.  The eldest son, David, left Monson in the early 1800’s; he moved to Vermont and resided in a number of small towns in Orange and Windsor Counties, before finally settling in Pomfret (Windsor County).  The second son, Samuel, removed to Washington (Litchfield County), Connecticut where he married his first cousin, Anna Armstrong; he later settled in Rutland County, Vermont.  The third son, Abel, resided most of his life in Mansfield, Connecticut.  He had three children by his wife, Ruth Baldwin, but they were later divorced and Abel may have subsequently removed briefly to Vermont along with his elder brother, David.  Three of John’s daughters were married to members of the Chaffee family of South Wilbraham, Massachusetts – Olive and Welthea were married to brothers Ephraim and Calvin Chaffee; and Freelove, was married to Noah Chaffee, a cousin to these two brothers.  There is no further account of the eldest daughter, Lucretia.

 


 

Original Source Documents:

 

1790 Federal Census – household of John Edgerton; Mansfield, Tolland Co., CT.

1800 Federal Census – household of John Edgerton; Monson, Hampden Co., MA.

1810 Federal Census – household of John Edgerton; Monson, Hampden Co., MA.