|
The Edgerton Database |
Robert Edgerton, son of Daniel and Mary (Douglass) Edgerton.
Anna Bull, daughter of Crispin and Mary (Carpenter) Bull.
Children:
Robert Edgerton was born in Norwich, Connecticut, on April 15, 1770, the second son and third child of Daniel and Mary (Douglass) Edgerton. He was named after his maternal grandfather, Robert Douglass. Family tradition has it that Robert’s full name was Robert Douglass Edgerton, although no documentation of a middle name has been found in primary records. When Robert was about seven years old, his parents removed from Norwich to Salisbury, Connecticut, and shortly thereafter to Tinmouth, in Rutland County, Vermont, where his father had bought confiscated lands. Not long after their arrival in Vermont, Robert’s father died (in 1783). His mother was later remarried to Jonathan Thompson. The family lived on West Hill, which had become part of the township of Wallingford in 1793 (formerly part of Tinmouth township). Robert Edgerton was married on December 26, 1793 in Wallingford, Vermont to Anna Bull, the daughter of Crispin and Mary (Carpenter) Bull of Danby. Anna was born in Danby on August 29, 1774. Her family were Quakers and had come to Vermont from Washington County, Rhode Island (after a brief stop in Dutchess County, New York). Robert and Anna (Bull) Edgerton had seven children: four sons, Robert Jr., Samuel M., Crispin Bull and Zela; and three daughter, Mary, Betsey and Elsie. The eldest daughter, Mary, died in infancy. Family records also report that there was a stillborn infant, born on April 28, 1800. It is likely that this child was born premature, given the birth of son Samuel M. just ten months earlier. Robert earned his livelihood as a farmer, and, like his brothers, Daniel and Philip, owned lands on West Hill. Family tradition has it that Robert and his brothers each built colonial-style houses along West Hill Road. These houses were probably on adjacent lands, not far from the home-farm where their mother resided with her second husband. Upon the death of her father, Crispin, in 1810, Robert’s wife, Anna, inherited additional lands in Wallingford (approximately 45 acres). Robert Edgerton appears to have been fairly active in town dealings. In 1795, when the town became desirous of forming a library association, he was one of the original signers of the articles, which read in part: “Whereas publick Libraries promote literature and deseminate useful knowledge and we being desirous to benefit ourselves by the same, do hereby form ourselves into a Society by the name of the Wallingford Library proprietors, for the purpose of framing and using a social library.” Robert Edgerton was also listed (along with his brother, Philip) among those who attended a public meeting, on July 21, 1802, which was called to a organize the First Congregational Church of Wallingford. The attendees of this meeting subsequently formed themselves into a Society “for the Support of the Gospel”, and voted to engage the Rev. Benjamin Osborne, minister of the Congregational Church at Tinmouth, as pastor. Unfortunately, the early church records have been lost – very likely, there were baptisms and marriages recorded there for Robert’s family. The household of Robert Edgerton was recorded in the 1800 Federal Census of Wallingford, Rutland County, Vermont (pg. 121), with the following enumeration: 1 male “of 26 and under 45” (Robert); 2 males “under 10 years” (sons Robert and Samuel); and, 2 females “of 16 and under 26” (wife Anna and ?). The household of Robert Edgerton was recorded in the 1810 Federal Census of Wallingford, Rutland County, Vermont (pg. 215), with the following enumeration: 1 male “of 45 years of upwards” (?); 1 male “of 26 and under 45” (Robert); 2 males “of 10 and under 16” (sons Robert and Samuel); 2 males “under 10 years of age” (sons Crispin and Zela); 1 female “of 26 and under 45” (wife Anna); 1 female “of 16 and under 26” (?); and 1 female “under 10 years of age” (daughter Betsey). The household of Robert Edgerton was recorded in the 1820 Federal Census of Wallingford, Rutland County, Vermont (pg. 235), with the following enumeration: 1 male “of 45 years and upwards” (Robert); 2 males “of 16 and under 26” (should be three – sons Robert Jr., Samuel and Crispin); 1 male “between 16 and 18” (son Crispin); 1 male “of 10 and under 16” (son Zela); 1 male “of 45 years and upwards” (wife Anna); 2 females “of 16 and under 26” (?); 1 female “of 10 and under 26” (daughter Betsey); and, 1 female “under 10 years of age” (daughter Elsie). Robert Edgerton died in Wallingford, Vermont on August 26, 1824, reportedly “while reaping grain”. He left no will; his friends Alexander Miller and Thomas Hulett (both of Wallingford) were appointed to administer his estate. According to the probate record, the estate was valued at $5195.39, one third of which – including the home farm – was set off as the dower for Robert’s widow, Anna. The remainder was divided equally among the seven children, each variously receiving lands and/or property. Robert’s brother-in-law, Elijah Bull, was appointed guardian for the two youngest children, Zela and Elsie (then aged 15 and 11, respectively). Three of Robert’s sons, Samuel, Crispin and Zela, remained on West Hill, where, like their father, they earned their livelihood by farming. The eldest son, Robert, resided initially in Wallingford, but later removed to Dorset, about twenty miles to the south of Wallingford. In the 1830 Federal Census of Rutland County, Vermont, Mrs. Anna (Bull) Edgerton and her eldest son, Robert Edgerton Jr., were listed as adjacent households on the Wallingford Census Roll (pg. 24). However, the census taker apparently mixed up the heads of households. Given the age ranges listed in the two households, the enumeration under “Robert Edgerton” was clearly intended for Mrs. Anna Edgerton, and that of the “Widow Edgerton” was actually the family of her son Robert Edgerton Jr. The two households were enumerated as follows: For “Robert Edgerton” (actually the family of Mrs. Anna Edgerton) 3 males “of 20 and under 30” (sons Crispin and Zela, and ?) 1 female “of 50 and under 60” (Anna); 1 female “of 20 and under 30” (daughter Betsey); and, 1 female “of 15 and under 20” (daughter Elsie). And for the “Widow Edgerton” (actually the family of Robert Edgerton Jr.) 1 male “of 30 and under 40” (Robert); 1 male “of 15 and under 20” (?); 1 male “of 5 and under 10” (son Hiram; 1 male “under 5 years of age” (son Robert); 1 female “of 30 and under 40” (wife Abigail); 1 female “of 20 and under 30” (?); and, 1 female “under 5 years of age” (daughter Manora). Robert Edgerton was buried at Green Hill Cemetery in Wallingford Village next to his mother, Mary (Douglass) Edgerton Thompson. His widow, Anna, survived him fifteen years, dying in Wallingford on March 12, 1839. She was buried beside her husband at Green Hill Cemetery. The inscriptions on Robert and Anna’s gravestones read as follows:
Original Source Documents: 1800 Federal Census
– household of Robert Edgerton; Wallingford,
Rutland Co., VT. 1810 Federal Census
– household of Robert Edgerton; Wallingford,
Rutland Co., VT. 1820 Federal Census
– household of Robert Edgerton; Wallingford,
Rutland Co., VT. 1830 Federal
Census – household of Mrs. Anna (Bull)
Edgerton; Wallingford, Rutland Co., VT. Gravestone photo –
Robert Edgerton, Green Hill Cemetery; Wallingford, Rutland Co., VT. Gravestone
photo – Mrs. Anna (Bull) Edgerton; Green
Hill Cemetery; Wallingford, Rutland Co., VT. |
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}