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The Edgerton Database |
Samuel Edgerton, son of Richard and Mary (Sylvester) Edgerton.
Alice Ripley, daughter of Joshua and Hannah (Bradford) Ripley.
Children:
Samuel Edgerton was born May 1670 at Norwich, Connecticut, the third son and seventh child of Richard and Mary (Sylvester) Edgerton. He was raised in Norwich, and was married there on April 18, 1703 to Alice Ripley, daughter of Joshua and Hannah (Bradford) Ripley. Alice was born September 17, 1683, in Hingham, Massachusetts. She was the great-granddaughter of Elder William Bradford of the Mayflower, and was also descended from the Rev. Peter Hobart, noted minister of Hingham, Massachusetts. Samuel and Alice lived in the district of Norwich known as West Farms, in the northwestern section of town that was later set aside as the township of Franklin. Samuel was a farmer and planter. He was a prominent member of the Congregational Church, and in 1716, was a petitioner for a separate ecclesiastical society in Franklin. The petition to the court read as follows: “To the Honourable the Governor, Council & Representatives We, the inhabitants of the town of Norwich, comonly called the West Farmers of Norwich, Having obtained the consent of sd town, to be a distinct society, after having the allowance of this Honble Court; as appears by their vote dated Septembr 19th, 1716, Do now pray yr Honrs to grant and constitute us a distinct society, according to the line agreed upon in the above referred to vote, with those privileges and imunities, which to yr wisdom shall seem needful to the promoting the end of our being a separate society. And herein we have great hopes of the favor of this Honble Assembly, forasmuch as the flourishing of religion is our only motive, upon the publick institutions of which it is scarce possible for us to attend in Norwich, being several of us seven or eight & but two or three within four miles of the place of publick worship. And to this application to yr Honrs we are also encouraged by the smiles of Providence in increasing our inhabitants to the number of above forty families & trust that by the continuance of the same divine favour we shall increase yet much more, & especially, if we have the smiles of heaven to incline yr Honrs to grant this, our humble request, which will remove the great discouragement to sober inhabitants settling among us. Yr Petitioners shall ever Pray, &c.” Both Samuel and his younger brother, Joseph, were among the signers of the petition. Samuel was also listed among the signers of the first Creed (or “Articles of faith”) of the Church, adopted in 1718. Samuel and his wife, Alice, were admitted to the Franklin Congregational Church “by letter” on January 4, 1717/8 (ChR 1:25). Samuel held many church offices over the years and his name appears frequently on the early records of the Church. Samuel and Alice Edgerton had a family of ten children – eight sons, Samuel, Peter, Joshua, John, William, Elijah, David and Daniel; and two daughters, Mary and Alice. The family was fully recorded in the Vital Records of Norwich (VRp I:60). The following entry for Samuel Edgerton is excerpted from The Congregational Church and Society, in Franklin, Connecticut (Tuttle, Morehouse, and Taylor; New Haven, Connecticut, 1869; pg. 53): “Edgerton, Samuel, was the third son and fifth child of Richard, another of the Thirty-Five Proprietors of Norwich. He was born in May, 1670, and probably settled at West Farms before 1700. He erected his dwelling where James C. Griswold now lives. He was a petitioner for a separate ecclesiastical organization in 1716, and afterwards was frequently elected to fill important offices in the gift of the society. In 1703 he married Alice Ripley, of Windham. David, his sixth son, born Aug. 28, 1718, was the founder of the Edgerton School Fund.” Mrs. Alice (Ripley) Edgerton was mentioned as “Alice Egerton” in the will of her father, Joshua Ripley, which was proved at Windham, Connecticut on June 27, 1739. The will was dated January 6, 1738/9 (see Susan E. Roser; Mayflower Deeds and Probate; pg. 77). Samuel Edgerton died at Norwich, Connecticut on June 7, 1748, at the age of seventy-eight. His widow, Alice, survived him twenty years and died in Norwich on December 18, 1768. Both deaths were included with the family entry in the Norwich Vital Records (VRp I:60). Samuel and Alice were buried on their farm, on a plot of land set aside as a cemetery. Their headstones were inscribed with the following epitaphs: “Mr Samuel Edgerton died June 7, 1748, in ye 81st year [sic] of his age and buried here” and, “Mrs Alice wife to Samuel Edgerton died Dec. 18, 1768, Aged 86 years [sic]”. This cemetery later became known as the Gagertown Cemetery. Three of their sons – Peter, John, and David – were also buried in this cemetery, as were a number of grandchildren and in-laws. Samuel Edgerton did not leave a will. On June 21, 1748, his eldest son, Samuel Edgerton [Jr.], executed a bond of administration at New London in the amount of 300 pounds, with his younger brother, Joshua Edgerton, acting as surety. Samuel subsequently submitted an administrator’s account to the New London Probate Court on July 1, 1748, including an inventory of the estate taken by Benjamin Seabury and Ebenezer Hartshorn, which totaled £478-09-01. The Court ordered distribution of the estate as follows: to the eldest son, Samuel, a double share totaling £66-12-2; and to each of the younger children – ie., Peter, Joshua, William, Elijah, David, Mary and Alice – a share of £33-6-1. On July 25, 1748, Samuel obtained a receipt from his mother, “Alice Edgerton widow”, for her dower which read as follows: “Norwich July ye 25th Day A.D. 1748. Then Recd of Samll Edgerton of Sd Norwich Administrator on ye Estate of Samll Edgerton Late of Sd Norwich Deceased, Sundry Articles of Sd Estate Amounting in ye whole to Sd Sum of one Hundred fourty nine pounds Seventeen Shillings & Nine pence old tenor at Inventory price in full Satisfaction for my third part of sd Estate as Witness my Hand. Alice Edgerton widow (her mark) in presence of Ebenr Hartshorn Benj. Seabury” Samuel obtained similar receipts from each of the other heirs – that is: from Peter Edgerton (on July 25, 1848), from Joshua Edgerton (on July 28, 1848), William Edgerton (on July 28, 1748), from David Fuller and Mary Fuller (on July 25, 1748), from Elijah Edgerton (on July 25, 1848), from David Edgerton (on July 28, 1748), and from Alice Edgerton (on July 25, 1748). The receipts were all executed at Norwich and witnessed variously by Ebenezer Hartshorn, Benjamin Seabury, Job Barstow, John Edgerton, and Eliphalet Tracy. The probate records on Samuel Edgerton’s estate were filed with the New London District Probate Court, which then had jurisdiction over Norwich. See New London Probate, Book E, pp. 630, 638, 641; and New London Probate Journal, Volume 5, p. 70 (Probate Packet #1884). Original Source Documents: Gravestone photo – Samuel Edgerton; Gagertown Cemetery; Norwich, New London Co., CT. Gravestone photo – Mrs. Alice (Ripley) Edgerton; Gagertown Cemetery; Norwich, New London Co., CT. |
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