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Lorin Edgerton, son of Isaac and Sarah Edgerton.

Jane Cady, daughter of Charles and Jane (Helmer) Cady.

Children:

1. Isaac Brainard, b. January 28, 1828; Florence, Oneida Co., NY.
2. Sarah, b. August 26, 1830; Florence, Oneida Co., NY.
3. Bela T., b. 1833; Florence, Oneida Co., NY.
4. Mary Louisa, b. 1842; Palatine, Cook Co., IL.

Lorin Edgerton was born July 15, 1802 at Florence, New York.  He was the youngest son of Isaac and Sarah Edgerton.  Lorin was raised in Florence and resided there for the first few decades of his life.  He made his living as a farmer.

Lorin Edgerton was married to Miss Jane Cady, a school teacher, by whom he had four children:  Isaac Brainard, Sarah, Bela T. and Maria Louisa.  Mrs. Jane (Cady) Edgerton was the daughter of Charles and Jane (Helmer) Cady, who had come to Oneida County from Montgomery County, New York (just to the east).  Jane’s elder brother, Philip Helmer Cady, had previously married Lorin’s sister, Fannie Edgerton; and a nephew, George Nelson Cady, was later married to Lorin’s niece, Charity Eliza Edgerton.  Jane was born in New York State (probably Oneida County) in the year 1800.

Lorin Edgerton was listed as head of household in the 1830 Federal Census of Florence, Oneida County, New York (pg. 362).  He had presumably taken charge over the family homestead by this time, as his parents, Isaac and Sarah, were included in his household.  His name was listed on the census roll as “Loren Edgerton” and the household consisted of the following individuals:

1 male “of 60 and under 70”  (father Isaac);

1 male “of 20 and under 30”  (Loren);

1 male “under 5 years of age”  (son Isaac);

1 female “of 60 and under 70”  (mother Sarah);

1 female “of 20 and under 30”  (wife Jane); and,

1 female “under 5 years”  (probably neice, Eliza – daughter of his brother, Zebina).

In the spring of 1838, Lorin removed from Florence and settled in Palatine, Cook County, Illinois (just northwest of the present city of Chicago).  The following excerpts are from a letter written in January 1940 by Charles Lorin Edgerton I, (Lorin’s grandson).  The letter was addressed to Arthur Lorin Edgerton of Grants Pass, Oregon, and contains a bounty of genealogical information:

“My grandfather, Lorin Edgerton, moved his family from Florance N.Y. to Cook County Ill. in a covered wagon during the spring of 1838 being five months on the road.  He settled about four miles north-west of Palatine at Deer Grove and lived there on his large farm until some time in the early sixties and then moved to Barrington, where he and his wife died in 1872.  In 1842 he assisted in digging the Illinois Canal and was in charge of a gang of men at the wonderful pay of $10.00 per month. 

I have my Grandmother’s [ie. Jane (Cady) Edgerton’s] certificate to teach school, more than 120 years ago and one of a set of silver teaspoons which she bought with her salary for six months.

Children of Lorin and Jane Edgerton –

1.       Isaac Brainard 1828 – 1901, married Matilda Graham 1862, 6 children.

2.       Sarah 1829 – 1843.  Killed by a rattlesnake.

3.       Bela, married Lydia Hunnewell 1833 – 1873.  Died near Kirwin Kansas, No children.

4.       Mary Louisa 1842 – 1872.  Married James Youlden.  No children.”

Three purchases were registered to Lorin Edgerton in the Illinois Public Land Purchase Records, all located in township “42N, 10E, 3rd Meridian” (ie. Palatine).  There were as follows:

According to History of Early Chicago, Modern Chicago and its Settlement, Early Chicago, and the Northwest  (Albert D. Hager, pg. 828-830), Lorin Edgerton settled in Palatine on Section 6 in the year 1838.  His land bordered that of Ezekiel Cady, Asahel Harris, and A.H. McClure, among others.  The town of Palatine was officially organized on April 2, 1850, and Lorin Edgerton subsequently served as highway commissioner from 1856 through 1859.  Lorin and Jane’s youngest daughter, Mary Louisa, was born in Palatine in 1842.  Lorin’s eldest son, “I. B.” Edgerton (ie Isaac Brainard), was also a prominent citizen of Palatine and held a number of offices (eg. Justice of the Peace, Constable, Overseer of the Poor) throughout the 1850’s and 1860’s.

Lorin’s elder brother, Zebina, and their parents, Isaac and Sarah, later followed Lorin to Cook County (probably circa 1845), and settled in the township of Barrington, just west of Palatine.  Isaac and Sarah died shortly after their arrival in Cook County (1848 and 1851, respectively), and were buried at the Cady Cemetery in Palatine.  A “Sarah, daughter of I. & J. Edgerton” was also buried at Cady Cemetery.  This was almost certainly the Sarah Edgerton, daughter of Lorin and Jane Edgerton, referred in the above letter who was killed by a rattlesnake.  (An error may have been made in the father’s initial or part of the letter eroded with time.)

It seems fairly certain that the “Heust Edderton” listed as head of household in the 1850 Federal Census of Palatine, Cook County, Illinois (pg. 98; dwelling #546, family #556; enum. September 13, 1850), was actually Lorin Edgerton.  An examination of the neighboring households on the census roll shows that this “Heust” was residing in precisely the section of Palatine that Lorin settled on, and furthermore, the enumeration of the household itself tallies well with the known data regarding this family.   The family was recorded as follows:

The “William” listed here would have been the younger son, Bela T. (then aged seventeen), and “Louis”, was the youngest daughter, Mary Louisa (then aged 8).  The enumerator may also have mistakenly reversed the ages listed for Heust (Lorin) and Jane.

The household of “Laurence” Edgerton was recorded in the 1860 Federal Census of Palatine, Cook County, Illinois (pg. 356; dwelling #2511; family #2461), as follows:

The household of “L. Edgerston” was recorded in the 1870 Federal Census of Barrington, Cook County, Illinois (pg. 16; dwelling #226; family #226; enum. August 24, 1870), as follows:

Lorin Edgerton died at Barrington, Illinois on April 22, 1872, aged 69 years.  His wife, Jane, died two years later on July 13, 1874.  Lorin and Jane were buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Barrington.  The gravestone inscriptions there also record the deaths of three of Lorin and Jane’s children – Sarah, Bela T. (who “Died in Kansas”) and Mary Louise.  Lorin and Jane’s daughter-in-law, Matilda (Graham) Edgerton (wife of their eldest son Isaac) was also buried at Evergreen Cemetery.

Original Source Documents:

1830 Federal Census – household of Lorin Edgerton; Florence, Oneida Co., NY.

Land Patent – Lorin Edgerton; Cook Co., IL; Bureau of Land Management; Chicago Land Office, certificate #8397.

Land Patent – Lorin Edgerton; Cook Co., IL; Bureau of Land Management; Chicago Land Office, certificate #15196.

Land Patent – Lorin Edgerton; Cook Co., IL; Bureau of Land Management; Chicago Land Office, certificate #21988.

1850 Federal Census – household of Lorin Edgerton; Palatine, Cook Co., IL.

1860 Federal Census – household of Lorin Edgerton; Palatine, Cook Co., IL.

1870 Federal Census – household of Lorin Edgerton; Barrington, Cook Co., IL.

Gravestone photo – Lorin Edgerton; Evergreen Cemetery; Barrington, Cook Co., IL.