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The Edgerton Database |
Sims Edgerton, son of Joshua and Ruth (Kingsbury) Edgerton.
Lucretia Horsford Children:
Sims Edgerton was born February 14, 1739/40 at Norwich, Connecticut, the second son and third child of Joshua and Ruth (Kingsbury) Edgerton. He was baptized on March 23rd of the same year at the Franklin Congregational Church. Sims was married in Norwich, Connecticut on May 24, 1764 to Lucretia Horsford. Lucretia’s parentage has not been determined. It seems certain that she was not a native of Norwich. Lucretia may have been related to Rebecca “Hosford” who was married at Canterbury, Connecticut on September 8, 1763 to Josiah Wood (see Norwich VRp I:386). Lucretia and Rebecca are the only Horsford/Hosford’s mentioned in the early vital records of Norwich. Sims and Lucretia lived in Norwich, Connecticut. They had a family of seven children: six sons, Ebenezer, Roswell, Andrew, Eleazer, Eleazer (again), and Joshua; and one daughter, Anne. They were members of the First Congregational Church of Norwich, and all but the youngest of their children (son Joshua) were baptized there. “Lucretia Edgerton, wife of Sims” owned the covenent of the Church on October 12, 1766 (ChR 2:265a). From 1774 – 1775, Sims Edgerton was keeper of the jail at Norwich. The Colonial Records of Connecticut, Volume 16 (kept at the Connecticut State Library; Hartford, Connecticut), report that “At a meeting of the Governor’s Council of Safety, Friday, March 22, 1776 …Allowed an account of Sims Edgerton gael keeper at Norwich for keeping Dr. Church from November 24…” The inventory of Sims’ estate (in 1783) included 8 pounds, 12 shillings in “Wages Due from the State”, probably as payment for his service as Norwich Jailer. On July 1, 1780, Sims Edgerton enlisted as a private in Capt. John Durkee’s 4th Connecticut regiment. He was discharged December 6, 1780, and re-enlisted the following year, April 23rd, as sergeant in Capt. Miel’s company of Gen. Waterbury’s state brigade. “Simes Edgerton, Serj.” was also noted as joining the Connecticut Militia Regiments in 1781 (see Record of Service of Connecticut Men). No direct death or burial record has been located for Sims Edgerton, however, it is known that he was deceased by January 7, 1783, when the first probate record on his estate was filed (see below). There was recorded in the registers of the Franklin Congregational Church (Book I, page 441) the death of a “Simeon” Edgerton on October 10, 1782. Since all other Simeon (as well as Simon) Edgertons are accounted for at this time, it seems probable that this “Simeon Edgerton” was actually Sims Edgerton, whose estate was then settled the following year. And while there is no direct evidence that Sims and his wife, Lucretia, were members of the Franklin Church, there is a fair amount of circumstantial evidence suggesting that they may have been affiliated with that church a short time prior to Sims’ death. Recall that Sims’ youngest son, Joshua, was not baptized at the Norwich Congregational Church, as each of the six preceding children had been; so the family may have changed affiliation to the Franklin Church sometime circa 1780. Sims’ parents, Joshua and Ruth, had been members of the Franklin Church throughout their lives, and Sims himself was baptized there as an infant. Two later entries in the Franklin Church records also connect the family of Sims and Lucretia Edgerton to that congregation. First, the marriage of “Mrs. Lucretia Edgerton” to “N. Bingham of Windham” on July 7, 1796 (ChR 1:388); and second, the death of “Joshua Edgerton” on June 13, 1849, “ae 68 yrs.” (ChR 1:451). This latter would appear to be the youngest son of Sims and Lucretia, born in 1781. Furthermore, Sims and Lucretia’s eldest son, Ebenezer, was married at the Franklin Church to Eunice Smith on March 24, 1791 (ChR 1:387). Sims Edgerton did not leave a will. At a probate hearing held in Norwich on January 7, 1783, Ebenezer Hartshorn 3rd and Jeremiah Everett, both of Norwich, were appointed to administer the estate and they duly executed a bond of administration in the amount of two hundred pounds. The administrators subsequently made two returns to the Probate Court: first, a “True inventory of all the Estate of Mr Sims Edgerton Late of Norwich Deceased”, dated March 28, 1783, which totaled £41-7-1; and second, a commissioners’ report, dated October 5, 1784, listing the creditors’ claims on the estate, which totaled £37-9-3¾ . According to the latter document, the estate was “Represented Insolvent”, however there were no further details on the settlement or disbursement of the estate. Mrs. Lucretia (Horsford) Edgerton survived her husband, as indicated by the aforementioned Norwich probate records; but there is no further definitive account of her. As previously mentioned, she was most likely the “Mrs. Lucretia Edgerton” who married N. Bingham of Windham, Connecticut on July 7, 1796. One of Lucretia’s son, Andrew, is known to have resided in Windham at this time. Only one child of Sims and Lucretia Edgerton – son Roswell – has been previously researched in any detail. He removed to Bennington, Vermont and then to Rome, Oneida County, New York, where he raised a large family, many of whom later settled in Wisconsin. The eldest son, Ebenezer, was married in Franklin, Connecticut in 1791 to Eunice Smith, and soon afterwards removed to Berkshire County, Massachusetts and from there to Oneida County, New York. Andrew married Ann (aka “Nancy”) Webb at Windham, Connecticut on October 16, 1794 and later removed to New York State. The next-to-youngest son, Eleazer, settled in Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Connecticut in the early 1800’s and had a number of children there by his wife, Patience Wheeler (see the baptismal records of the United Congregational Church of Bridgeport). The youngest son, Joshua, was presumably the “Joshua Edgerton” who died at Franklin on June 13, 1849, aged 68 years, as recorded at the Franklin Congregational Church (ChR 1:451). |