Person:Simeon Edgerton (1)

Simeon was a selectman for Pawlet 9 years from 1781 to 1798.

Captain Simeon Edgerton was born in Norwich, Connecticut on March 9, 1731/2, the fourth child and second son of Capt. Joseph and Elizabeth (Haskins) Edgerton. He was baptized three days after his birth at the First Church of Norwich. Simeon was raised in Norwich, and was a farmer and soldier.

Simeon Edgerton was married on November 23, 1758 at Norwich, Connecticut to Abiah Hough. Abiah was the youngest daughter of John and Hannah (Denison) Hough, who had removed from New London to Norwich circa 1735. She was born in Norwich on February 11, 1737/8, and was baptized at the Franklin Congregational Church on February 19th of the same year. Simeon and Abiah’s marriage was recorded at Norwich (VRp I:367) and at the Bozrah Congregational Church (ChR 3:35), as well as in the private records of Nehemiah Waterman, J.P. (Book I, pg. 20).

Simeon and Abiah resided first in Norwich, where the births of their five eldest children were recorded. They were members of the Bozrah Congregational Church, in Norwich (later Bozrah) and owned the covenenat there on June 1, 1760 (ChR 3:44). Simeon and Abiah’s five eldest children - Jedediah, Jacob, Lydia, Elizabeth, and Hannah - were baptized at the Bozrah Church between 1760 and 1765.

About 1766, the family moved from Norwich to Hebron, in Tolland County (then Hartford County), Connecticut. Simeon and Abiah resided in Hebron for fourteen years, and had eight more children born there, four of whom (daughters Abiah, Esther, Molly and Sarah) were recorded in the Vital Records of Hebron (VR 2:172).

In 1773, Simeon inherited lands in Norwich (described as “that bought of Capt. Elisha Lothrop”) through the will of his uncle, Jacob Edgerton. Simeon and his younger brother, Joseph, were named co-executors of the will, which was dated March 29, 1772.

Simeon Edgerton was a Captain in the 12th Regiment for the state of Connecticut and served actively during the Revolution. He was present at the capture of New London and the massacre of Fort Griswold. He was listed as a Captain in the DAR Patriot Index. Simeon’s two eldest sons, Jedediah and Jacob, also served in the Revolution.

On November 11, 1779, Simeon Edgerton purchased land in Pawlet, Rutland County, Vermont; and by 1781, he had moved his family there. Simeon had also purchased land in Crown Point, Essex County, New York, on September 5, 1780; but it does not appear that he ever settled there. Shortly before his death, he transferred this land (December 8, 1808) to his eldest son, Jedediah, who in turn transferred it to his younger brother, Simeon Jr., on February 12, 1817.

Simeon and Abiah’s fourteenth child, a son, David, was born in Pawlet, Vermont on June 15, 1784. All but one of Simeon and Abiah’s children (a daughter, Sarah) survived to adulthood. Of these, only David was never married.

The household of Simeon Edgerton was recorded in the 1790 Federal Census of Pawlet, Rutland County, Vermont, as follows:

2 males “16 years and over” (Simeon and son, Simeon Jr.);

2 males “under 16 years” (sons John and David); and,

7 females (wife Abiah, and daughters Abiah, Esther, Molly, Sarah and Philena - the 7th female was probably Simeon’s sister, Martha, who died in Pawlet in 1809).

The family was recorded again in the 1800 Federal Census of Pawlet, Rutland County, Vermont, with the following enumeration:

1 male “of 45 and upwards” (Simeon Sr.);

1 male “of 26 and under 45” (son Simeon Jr., not yet married);

1 male “of 10 and under 16” (son David);

1 female “of 45 and upwards” (wife Abiah);

1 female “of 26 and under 45” (?); and,

2 females “under 10 years of age” (?).

In Pawlet, Simeon was highly respected as one of the elders of the town. He was representative to the General Assembly for two years (1781, 1782) and served the town regularly in municipal offices. He was also a town selectman for nine years, from 1781 to 1798. According to Hiel Hollister’s Pawlet for One Hundred Years (1867, pg. 184), he was “a man of few words, but noted for his energy and uprightness of character. He was literally one of the fathers of the town, his descendants numbering 95 at his death.”

Simeon and Abiah were members of the First Congregational Church of Pawlet, as were most of their children. Mrs. Abiah Edgerton, “wife of Simeon Edgerton” was received into the Church on October 1, 1796. David, the youngest son of “Simeon Edgerton and Abiah his wife” was baptized at the Church on October 6, 1799. A granddaughter, “Ester Edgerton” (daughter of second son Jacob), was baptized at the Church on the same date; the baptismal record notes that Esther was “given to them [ie. Simeon & Abiah] by their son” to be baptized “on the right of Abiah Edgerton”.

Capt. Simeon Edgerton died in Pawlet, Vermont on August 27, 1809, aged 77. He was buried at the Old Pawlet Cemetery (also called the Old Mettowee Cemetery) in Pawlet. The following obituary notice was printed in The Rutland Weekly Herald on September 2, 1809:

“Died Pawlet, 28 ult., after severe illness, Capt. Simeon Edgerton, 77 years, 6 months.”

Mrs. Abiah (Hough) Edgerton died in Pawlet on October 17, 1821. She was buried beside her husband at the Old Pawlet Cemetery, and as testified by her gravestone inscription, left “11 children, 102 grandchildren, and 96 great-grandchildren”.

Abiah Edgerton left a Last Will and Testament, dated November 1815, which was proved at Pawlet, Rutland County, Vermont on November 20, 1821. The will mentions Abiah’s eleven surviving children - that is, “sons Dyer Edgerton, Jacob Edgerton, Simeon Edgerton and John Edgerton”, and “daughters Lydia Carver, Hannah Cobb, Abiah Adams, Esther Reed, Polly Dutton, Sally Sheldon and Philena Sheldon” - as well as the three children of her deceased daughter, Elizabeth (Edgerton) Hyde. A subsequent division of Abiah’s dower among these heirs was filed on April 1, 1822 by John Penfield, Ozias Clark and John Guild. The appraisers of the estate (John Penfield and Ozias Clark) also submitted a detailed inventory of Abiah’s personal belongings, valued at $175.12. These and other miscellaneous probate documents pertaining to the estate were filed with the Fair Haven Probate District, Volume 11, pp. 332 - 333, and pp. 390 - 392.

Many descendants of Simeon and Abiah Edgerton remained in Pawlet and the adjoining towns for over a century; others settled in Essex County, NY, New York City, and parts west. Two of Simeon’s sons, Jedediah and Simeon Jr., were Captains in the Pawlet Militia; and another son, John, was for many years the town clerk.

1.   Hollister, Hiel. Pawlet, for One Hundred Years. (Albany, Albany, New York, United States: J. Munsell, 1867).

   EDGERTON, Capt. SIME0N, from Norwich, Conn., 1781, son of Capt. Joseph Edgerton, who, with his ship, just before the revolution, was foundered at sea and never heard from. He was literally one of the fathers of the town, his descendants numbering 95 at his death in 1809, aged 77. At the death of his widow, Abiah, in 1821, aged 85, her descendants numbered 209. They brought with them five sons: Jedediah, Jacob, John, Simeon and David, and eight daughters: Betsey, m. Elijah Hyde.; Abiah m. Joseph Adams; Lydia m. Nathaniel Carver; Hannah m. Joshua Cobb; Sally m. Joel Sheldon; Philena m. Seth Sheldon; Polly m. Calvin Dutton, and Esther m. Ezra Reed Capt. Edgerton was a man of few words, but noted for his energy and uprightness of character. He was at the capture of New London and the massacre of Fort Griswold. He was in the legislature two years and was intrusted with many responsible offices.[[1]]

2.   Rolls and lists of Connecticut men in the Revolution, 1775-1783. (Hartford, Connecticut: Connecticut Historical Society, 1901)
   12/142.
3. ↑ Norwich, New London, Connecticut, United States. Vital Records of Norwich, 1659-1848. (Hartford, Conn.: Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, 1913)
   1st Bk. p.91.

   "Simion Edgerton Son of Joseph & his wife Elizabeth was born the 9^th day of March 1732"