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Edgerton

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Nat Ford Edgerton, son of Ebenezer and Eunice (Smith) Edgerton.

Sylvia A. White

Children:

1. Ambrose H., b. March 1839; Whitestown, Oneida Co., NY.
2. Cynthia Eliza, b. January 22, 1843; Whitestown, Oneida Co., NY.

Nat Ford Edgerton was born at Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts on March 3, 1795, the second child and eldest son of Ebenezer and Eunice (Smith) Edgerton.  He was raised in Pittsfield and later Whitestown, Oneida County, New York, where his parents settled circa 1806 – 1810.

Nat Ford Edgerton was married to Sylvia A. White, with whom he had two children:  a son, Ambrose H., born March 1839; and a daughter, Cynthia Eliza, born January 22, 1843.  The parentage of Mrs. Sylvia A. (White) Edgerton is not known.  From later census records, it is known that she was born in New York State in the year 1809, and that her father and mother were born in Massachusetts and Vermont, respectively.

The household of Nat. F. Edgerton was recorded in the 1840 Federal Census of Whitestown, Oneida County, New York (pg. 137), with the following enumeration:

1 male “40 and under 50”  (Nat);

1 male “under 5 years”  (son Ambrose); and,

1 female “30 and under 40”  (wife Sylvia).

The household of Nat. F. Edgerton was recorded in the 1850 Federal Census of Whitestown, Oneida County, New York (pg. 26; dwelling #291; family #372; enum. September 13, 1850), as follows:

The household of Nat F. Edgerton was recorded in the 1860 Federal Census of Floyd, Oneida County, New York (pg. 367; dwelling #1034; family #1039; enum. August 3, 1860), as follows:

Circa 1860 – 1865, Nat Edgerton removed west, eventually settling in central Iowa.  The family may have resided briefly in western Illinois, where Nat’s two children were married in the mid-1860’s.  Cynthia E. was married on October 26, 1863 in McDonough County, Illinois to William H. Garrett; and Ambrose H. was married on September 21, 1864 in Mercer County, Illinois to Letitia A. Robb.

Nat and his wife, Sylvia, were recorded in the household of his son, “A. H. Edgerton”, in the 1870 Federal Census of Madison Township, Mahaska County, Iowa (pg. 275; dwelling #2; family #2; enum. August 10, 1870), where they were enumerated respectively as “Nat F. [Edgerton], aged 75, b. in Massachusetts, farmer” and “Sylvia [Edgerton], aged 61, b. in New York, keeping house”.

Nat F. Edgerton died in the year 1875, presumably at Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa.  He was buried at the Forest Cemetery in Oskaloosa, where his gravestone lists the years of his birth and death (that is, “1795 – 1875”).  Nat’s widow, Sylvia, was subsequently recorded in the 1880 Federal Census of Harrison, Harrison County, Iowa (pg. 83), residing in the household of her son-in-law, “W. H. Garrett”.  She was enumerated as, “Sylvia Edgerton, mother-in-law, aged 70, b. in New York, father b. in Massachusetts, mother b. in Vermont”.  Mrs. Sylvia A. Edgerton died not long after this census was enumerated, probably at the home of her daughter in Harrison, Iowa.  She was buried beside her husband at Forest Cemetery, where her gravestone was inscribed with the dates “1809 – 1880”.

Nat and Sylvia’s only son, Ambrose H., removed further west to La Junta, Otero County, Colorado, where he was recorded in the 1900 Federal Census.  He died in the year 1932.  He and two of his children were buried at the Fairview Cemetery in La Junta.

Original Source Documents:

1840 Federal Census – household of Nat Ford Edgerton; Whitestown, Oneida Co., NY.

1850 Federal Census – household of Nat Ford Edgerton; Whitestown, Oneida Co., NY.

1860 Federal Census – household of Nat Ford Edgerton; Floyd, Oneida Co., NY.