Person:Richard Edgerton (4)

Richard Edgerton II was born in Norwich, Connecticut on March 10, 1664/5, the second son of Richard and Mary (Sylvester) Edgerton. He grew up in Norwich and resided there for the entirety of his life. Like his father and brothers, he made his living primarily as a farmer and planter.

Richard Edgerton was married at Norwich, Connecticut on January 4, 1691/2 to Elizabeth Scudder. Elizabeth’s parentage is not known. Her last name is spelled variously as Scudder, Schudder and Skudder. Elizabeth reportedly had an older sister, Mary Scudder, who also lived in Norwich and was married there on April 8, 1686 to Joseph Lathrop. Joseph’s father, Samuel (son of the Rev. John Lathrop), had come to Connecticut from Scituate, Massachusetts. There were Scudders in Plymouth Colony at this time and the two sisters may have been related to that line of the family.

Richard and Elizabeth resided in Norwich and had seven children, all of whom survived to adulthood. The family was fully recorded in the Vital Records of Norwich (VRp I:46). Four of the children - Hannah, Joseph, Richard and Elizabeth - were married and had families. Lydia, Jacob and Ann were never married.

Richard & Elizabeth Edgerton were members of the First Congregational Church of Norwich. Church records prior to 1700 have been lost, but the baptisms of the youngest four children (Richard, Elizabeth, Jacob and Ann) were recorded at the First Congregational Church between 1701 and 1711 (ChR 1:2-9). “Elizabeth, wife of Richard Edgerton” was admitted to the Church and communion in 1700 (ChR 1:20).

Richard Edgerton apparently also owned land in Windham, Connecticut (about thirty or so miles northwest of Norwich). On July 16, 1697, he bought of Joseph Huntington, for “œ 15 current pay…all that my seventh lott called one thousand acre interest of upland and meadow lying and being at the place called Willimantuck, in the town of Windham aforesaid.” (see Huntington Genealogical Memoir, 1915; pg. 535)

Richard Edgerton II died in Norwich, Connecticut on June 29, 1729, “aged 64 years”, and was buried at the Old Norwich Town Cemetery. He left a Last Will and Testament, dated at Norwich, March 29, 1729, which was proved in Norwich on July 17, 1729 before Joseph Backus, Justice of the Peace. In the will, Richard referred to himself as a “Yeoman” and made bequests to his “well beloved wife Elizabeth”, children Joseph, Jacob, Lydia, Elizabeth and Ann, and to the “four children of my daughter Hannah deceased”. He appointed his eldest son Joseph to be sole executor of the will.

Mrs. Elizabeth (Scudder) Edgerton survived her husband thirty-three years. On November 28, 1753, she wrote a Last Will and Testament, in which she left the whole of her estate to her youngest daughter, Ann. Her youngest son, Jacob, was named sole executor, and her eldest son, Joseph, was one of the witnesses to the will.

Mrs. Elizabeth (Scudder) Edgerton died on December 20, 1762 at the home of her youngest son, Jacob, in Bozrah, Connecticut (then part of Norwich). Her death was noted on the records of the Bozrah Church as “Old Mrs. Edgerton, age 95”. Elizabeth’s death was also recorded in the family entry at Norwich (VR I:46). Elizabeth’s burial site has not been ascertained. It is possible that she was buried beside her husband at the Old Norwich Town Cemetery, and that no stone was erected.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Norwich, New London, Connecticut, United States. Vital Records of Norwich, 1659-1848. (Hartford, Conn.: Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, 1913)
   1:34, 46.

   "The marryag of Richard Edgerton with Mary Siluester was upon the 7^th of Aprill Ano Dom 1653
   the names & ages of their children …
   Richard was borne March 10^th Ano: 1665"
   "M^r Richard Edgerton: first abovenamed Died y^e 29^th day of June 1729"

2. ↑ Richard Edgerton, in Find A Grave.