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Capt. Jedediah Edgerton, son of Simeon and Abiah (Hough) Edgerton.

Lucy Curtis, daughter of Hosea and Mary (Gilbert) Curtis.

Children:

1. Jedediah, b. October 20, 1783; Pawlet, Rutland Co., VT.
2. Jacob, b. March 18, 1785; Pawlet, Rutland Co., VT.
3. Curtis, b. April 19, 1786; Pawlet, Rutland Co., VT.
4. Joshua, b. May 1, 1788; Pawlet, Rutland Co., VT.
5. Martha, b. March 18, 1790; Pawlet, Rutland Co., VT.
6. Lydia, b. February 16, 1792; Pawlet, Rutland Co., VT.
7. Ebenezer Leffingwell, b. February 18, 1794; Pawlet, Rutland Co., VT.
8. John Leffingwell, b. December 2, 1795; Pawlet, Rutland Co., VT.
9. Lucy, b. March 2, 1797; Pawlet, Rutland Co., VT.

Mrs. Electa Clark

Jedediah Edgerton was born in Norwich, Connecticut on August 28, 1759, the eldest son of Simeon and Abiah (Hough) Edgerton.  He was raised in Norwich and Hebron, Connecticut.  Jedediah may have gone by the nickname, “Dyer”, as he was referred to in the will of his mother, Abiah (Hough) Edgerton.

Jedediah’s wife was Lucy Curtis, the youngest daughter of Hosea and Mary (Gilbert) Curtis of Hebron, Connecticut.  Lucy was born in Hebron on September 3, 1760, as recorded in the vital records there (Book 2, pg. 155).  An alternate birthdate of August 27, 1760 is frequently cited, but there is no known documentation for such a date.  No record has been found of Lucy and Jedediah’s marriage.  The marriage probably took place circa 1781 – 1782 in either Pawlet, Vermont or Hebron, Connecticut.  The Lineage Books of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Volume 165, pg. 239, ID #164775) report that Jedediah and Lucy were married in the year 1781.

Jedediah and Lucy Edgerton had a family of nine children – six sons and three daughters, all born in Pawlet, Vermont.  Only two of the children (the eldest two son, Jedediah and Jacob) were listed in the vital records of Pawlet.

Jedediah Edgerton served in the Connecticut Militia during the Revolution, and, like his father, advanced to the rank of Captain.  He was later placed on the pension rolls of Rutland County, Vermont for his Revolutionary Service and was listed in the DAR Patriot Index.  Following the War, Jedediah was a Captain of the Pawlet Militia, leading the infantry company.  He was later succeeded in this position by his younger brother, Simeon Edgerton Jr.

Leaves from the Edgerton Family Tree (Chauncey T. Edgerton, comp.) provides the following description of Jedediah’s Revolutionary War service:

“In 1776 he [Jedediah] was living in Hebron, Conn.  As a member of the militia he was called into service with the Revolutionary troops four times:  The first time in August, 1776.  He served around White Plains of New Rochelle for two or three months and was then released.  The second time was in August or September, 1777, for duty at New London, Conn.  He served about six months.  In the fall of 1780 he was called out for the third time, together with his brother Jacob, for garrison duty at Castleton, Vermont.  Jacob was released after two weeks; Jedediah served for two months more.  He may have volunteered for this duty.  In the spring of 1781, the family moved to Pawlet, Vermont.  In that year both brothers were again called for service at Castleton.  Jedediah again served for about two months.  During that time he is believed to have done some duty at Fort Ann.”

In 1781, Jedediah removed with his father to Pawlet, in Rutland County, Vermont.  All of Jedediah’s children were born in Pawlet.  Jedediah was a farmer by profession.  His household was recorded in the 1790 Federal Census of Pawlet, Rutland County, Vermont, as follows:

2 males “of 16 years and upwards”  (Jedediah and ?);

4 males “under 16 years of age”  (sons Jedediah, Jacob, Curtis and Joshua); and,

3 females  (wife Lucy, daughter Martha, and ?).

Jedediah was listed again as a head of household in the 1800 Federal Census of Pawlet, Rultand County, Vermont.  The family at that time was enumerated as follows:

1 male “of 26 and under 45”  (Jedediah);

1 male “of 16 and under 26”  (son Jedediah Jr.);

2 males “of 10 and under 16”  (should be 3 - sons Jacob, Curtis and Joshua);

2 males “under 10 years of age”  (sons Ebenezer and John);

1 female “of 26 and under 45”  (wife Lucy);

1 female “of 10 and under 16”  (daughter Martha); and,

2 females “under 10 years of age”  (daughters Lydia and Lucy).

Jedediah and Lucy Edgerton were original members of the First Congregational Church of Pawlet, having been received into the Church on December 8, 1787.  Their four eldest children (sons Jedediah, Jacob, Curtis and Joshua) were baptized together at the Pawlet Church on August 3, 1788.  The remaining children were also baptized at the Pawlet Church, each shortly after their respective births.  In 1793, Jedediah Edgerton was listed among the members of the Church who signed a subsciption (“Dated at Pawlett, June 4th, 1793”) to engage the Rev. John Griswold as pastor.  Jedediah Edgerton was listed with a subscription of 3 pounds.   The total subsriptions (at 152 pounds, 19 shillings, 9 ducats) were to be paid “one half on the first day of January next, and the other in one yeare from the first payment, to paid in neet cattle, or wheat and Indian corn.”

About 1803, Jedediah left Pawlet and removed to Moriah, in Essex County, New York, where he was active in town politics and a deacon of the Congregational Church.  Jedediah’s father, Simeon, had previously (November 11, 1779) bought land in nearby Crown Point, which he deeded to Jedediah in 1808.   Jedediah later passed on this property to his younger brother, Simeon Edgerton II.

The household of Jedediah Edgerton was recorded in the 1810 Federal Census of Moriah, Essex County, New York, with the following enumeration:

1 male “over 45 years of age”  (Jedediah);

1 male “of 16 and under 26”  (son Joshua);

2 males “of 10 and under 16”  (sons Ebenezer and John);

1 female “over 45 years of age”  (wife Lucy);

1 female “of 16 and under 26”  (daughter Lydia); and

1 female “of 10 and under 16”  (daughter Lucy).

Jedediah resided in Moriah until the death of his wife, Lucy, in 1819.  He then returned to Vermont, where he married Mrs. Electa Clark, the widow of Enos Clark of Middletown Springs, on April 3, 1822.  After his second marriage, Jedediah resided in Rutland County, Vermont – first in Tinmouth and then in neighboring Middletown Springs.

The household of Jedediah Edgerton was recorded in the 1830 Federal Census of Tinmouth, Rutland County, Vermont (pg. 57), with the following enumeration:

1 male “of 70 and under 80”  (Jedediah);

1 male “of 30 and under 40”  (son John);

1 male “of 20 and under 30”  (?);

1 male “of 10 and under 15”  (?);

1 female “of 50 and under 60”  (second wife Electa); and,

1 female “of 20 and under 30”  (? – probably daughter Lucy, actually aged 33).

Jedediah Edgerton, “aged 74”, was placed on the Rutland County Pension Rolls on April 19, 1833 for service as a private in the Connecticut militia during the Revolution.  His annual allowance was recorded as 40 dollars 0 cents, with a total disbursement of 120 dollars, 0 cents.

By the year 1840, Jedediah had settled in Middletown Springs, Vermont (just to the west of Tinmouth), where his eldest son, Jedediah Edgerton Jr., had previously settled.  Jedediah Sr. was listed as a head of household in the 1840 Federal Census of Middletown, Rutland County, Vermont (pg. 87), with the following enumeration:

1 male “80 and under 90”  (Jedediah);

1 male “40 and under 50”  (?); and,

1 female “60 and under 70”  (second wife Electa).

In the 1840 Census enumeration of Middletown, Jedediah Edgerton was also recorded in the list of Revolutionary War Pensioners (pg. 93), where his age was listed as 80 years.

Jedediah’s second wife, Electa, died in Middletown Springs, Vermont in the year 1841.  She was buried beside her first husband, Enos Clark, at the Old Middletown Cemetery.  After the death of his second wife, Jedediah went to live with his son, Dr. Joshua Edgerton, in Whitehall (or Hampton), New York, where he spent the remainder of his life.

Hiel Hollister’s Pawlet for One Hundred Years (1867, pg. 184-5), gives the following biographical account of Jedediah Edgerton:

“EDGERTON, Capt. JEDEDIAH, settled on the Silas Reed farm.  Thence, in 1803, removed to Moriah, N.Y., and was deacon of the Congregational church in that place.  He raised a numerous family, none of whom settled in this town.  Losing his wife, he married the widow of Enos Clark, of Middletown, and lived in that town until her death.  In extreme old age, he went to live with his son, Dr. Joshua Edgerton, in western New York, where he closed his exemplary life in 1848, aged 86.  His son, John L. Edgerton, is well and widely known as a teacher and lecturer on natural  science.  One of his grandsons, William U., was a physician in Caldwell, N.Y., where he died in early life.  Another grandson, Joseph R., was in the 38th congress from Indiana.”

Capt. Jedediah Edgerton died in either 1846 or 1848, in Whitehall (Hampton), New York or just over the Vermont border in Fair Haven – sources disagree as to the date and place of his death and the location of Jedediah’s burial has not yet been ascertained.  The date listed here (September 27, 1846) is from family records kept by descendants of Jedediah Edgerton, and is also found in a number of secondary sources, none of which unfortunately cite any primary documentation.  An alternate date of February 12, 1848 is listed in the Daughters of the American Revolution Patriot Index (Part I, p. 927); and Hiel Hollister’s Pawlet for One Hundred Years (1867, pg. 184-5) reports that Jedediah died “in 1848, age 86.” 

The earlier date (September 27, 1846) is reckoned to be the more accurate, as on January 19, 1847, Jedediah’s son, Joshua Edgerton, was appointed by the Fair Haven (Vermont) District Probate Court to administer the estate of “Jedediah Edgerton late of Hampton in the county of Washington and State of New York, deceased”.  On the same date, Joshua accepted the appointment and executed a bond  to the court in the amount of one hundred dollars.  (see Fair Haven District Probate Records, Volume 20, pg. 585).  Jedediah had died intestate, and unfortunately no further returns were made to the probate court.   There may be addititional probate records or land transfers filed in Washington County, New York.

Many of Jedediah’s sons remained in Moriah, where they raised large families, as indicated by the census records of the early 1800’s.  Much research is still left to be done on  the descendants of this branch of the family.  The eldest son, Jedediah Jr., residing variously in Moriah, New York and Middletown, Vermont; he had a large family of nine children.  The second-born son, Jacob, resided for a number of years in Moriah, later removing west to Knox County, Illinois, along with several of his children and nephews.  The third son, Curtis, lived in Warsaw, New York, and Woodstock Township, Canada, before finally settling in St. Clair County, Michigan.  The next-to-youngest son, Ebenezer Leffingwell, resided variouly in Pawlet, Vermont and Moriah, New York; he was twice married and had a large family of eight children.  Two of the younger sons, Joshua and John Leffingwell, later removed to Wisconsin.