Thomas Edgerton Sr (abt. 1705 - abt. 1768)

Born about 1705 in Cheshire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Stephens) Edgerton — married 20 Dec 1733 in Haddonfield, Gloucester County, New Jersey

Descendants

Died about 19 Oct 1768 at about age 63 in Haddonfield, Gloucester County, New Jersey

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Biography

Was a Quaker. Family Footprints, Vol. IV, Descendants of Elkinton by David Elkinton. Thomas was born Cheshire, England, and emigrated as a young man to County Wexford, Ireland, where he was a member of Colledine Monthly Meeting. On December 10, 1733, he presented his certificate of transfer to Haddonfield Monthly Meeting, Haddonfield, NJ, to support his application to marry Sarah Stephens of Haddonfield. They were married Dec. 20, 1733.

Disputed Origin

Impotant Note on Purported Mother: Elizabeth (Holland) Egerton died in 1701. This conflicts with his estimated birth date of 1705. His birth date is only known as probably between 1700 and 1710. I have used the middle of the range (1705) but this is basically guesswork. He might have been born as early as 1700, so Elizabeth Holland as his mother is not impossible date-wise.

The parents shown for Thomas are far from certain. See the notes on the page for his purported father.

Index records for christenings of three different Thomas Edgertons in Chesire have been found , two in 1710, and one in 1700. Two of the records use the spelling without the d, "Egerton." Three different fathers are given on the three records, no mothers named. One father is in fact John, but it's impossible to say whether that record refers to the Thomas or the John shown here.^[1]

Even the fact that he was born in Cheshire is speculative, as the Binns quote (p. 1) in the Notes section below states.

There are several other Thomas Edgertons (or Egerton) born and/or baptized in England in this time frame (e.g., Symondsbury, Dorset; Winwick, Lancashire; Flixton, Lancashire; Pinvin, Stafford). Various parents are named for these Thomases, but again, it is not possible to positively identify any of those records as being this Thomas.

Speculative again, but family lore says he left England because he was disowned by his family for converting to the Society of Friends (Quakers), and because of persecution of Quakers in England at that time.

That he was a Quaker is not in question. We have solid historical records that he was a member of a Quaker Meeting in County Wexford, Ireland prior to his immigration to New Jersey, where he married Sarah Stephens at the Haddonfield Quaker meeting house in 1733.

Notes

The following are quotes from Meet the Edgertons

p. 1: Our introduction to the Edgertons begins with Thomas Edgerton of Colledine, Ireland. We do not know the exact date of his birth but it must have been between 1700 and 1710, probably in Cheshire, England. Just when he came to America is not known but in 1733 he made application to the Monthly Meeting of Friends at Haddonfield, New Jersey, for permission to marry Sarah Stephens of that meeting... Apparently the required certificate from the meeting at Colledine, County Wexford, in Ireland was produced and he and Sarah Stephens were permitted to proceed with their marriage which took place 10-20-1733.

p. 153: Sarah (Stephens) Edgerton, wife of Thomas Edgerton, Sr., died when Thomas, Jr. was very young. We do not know the exact date of her death but in 1738 Thomas Edgerton, Sr. married a second time in Haddonfield Meeting and the new wife was Esther Bate, a widow with children by a former marriage.

The following is from Descendants of Thomas Edgerton (website).

Child of Thomas Edgerton and Sarah Stephens is:

Thomas Edgerton, Jr., born Abt. 1735 in Haddonfield, Camden Co., NJ; died Abt. 1794 in Wayne Co., NC.

NOTE: Although Haddonfield is currently in Camden County, it was actually in Gloucester County at this time. Camden County was formed from a portion of Gloucester County in 1844. - FR

Children of Thomas Edgerton and Esther Bate are:

William Edgerton, died Bef. 1800.

Hannah Edgerton, died Unknown.

Birth

Date: Abt. 1705

Place: [probably] Cheshire, England.

Sources: Meet the Edgertons, Descendants of Thomas Edgerton)

Marriage

Date: 20 Dec 1733 (Old style calendar, 31 Dec, new style)

Place: Haddonfield, Gloucester, New Jersey.

Husband: Thomas Edgerton

Wife: Sarah Stephens

Sources: Meet the Edgertons, Descendants of Thomas Edgerton, Ancestral File)

Child: Thomas Edgerton

Note: I have changed the marriage date from Oct. to Dec. October was an error based on misunderstanding the old style calendar and Quaker dating. The original marriage document, reproduced in Binns, p. 5, gives the date as "twentieth day of ye tenth month in the Year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred and thirty three." By the old-style calendar, then in use, and by Quaker dating, the "tenth month" was December (see The Quaker Calendar, from the Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College).

Later: The date is old style calendar, which was used throughout the British Empire until 1752. By that calendar, the 10th month was December. The Gregorian (new style) calendar was introduced in 1588 but different countries switched to the new style at different times. As mentioned, for the British Empire, the change occurred in 1752. The new style calendar was a correction to the old style (Julian) calendar, which over many years moved the calendar increasing out of sync with astronomical seasons (e.g. the vernal and autumnal equinoxes). One thing that was done with the change was to skip 11 calendar days to bring the new calendar back in sync with actual seasonal changes (along with changing how leap years are calculated). As a result their marriage actually took place on 31 Dec 1733, according to our current calendar. I have not changed the date of the marriage again so it matches the calendar we now use. This would likely lead to more changes in all the pre-1752 dates (birth dates of his children, etc.)

Death

Date: 1768

Place: Haddonfield, Gloucester County, New Jersey.

Source: Binns

NOTE: The exact date of death, below, comes from a user-submitted record in FamilySearch.org's "Ancestral File." The record does not identify any source for the date, and is thus uncertain. That record also gives the place of death as Philadelphia, but I've gone with this statement from Binns, "Thomas and Sarah Stephens Edgerton remained in Haddonfield where he died in 1768." - p.1 Philadelphia is less than 10 miles (ca. 16 km) from Haddonfield.

Date: 19 Oct 1768

Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Source: Ancestral File

Sources

• Source: S28 J. Howard Binns. Meet the Edgertons. Richmond, Indiana : J. Howard Binns, ©1970. pp. 1, 153. Note: Gives birth as: "...between 1700 and 1710, probably in Cheshire, England."

• Source: S22 Descendants of Thomas Edgerton. Note: Gives much of the same information as Binns, which it cites as source.

• Source: S21 Ancestral File on FamilySearch.org. User submitted. Gives marriage as Haddenfield, Gloucester Co., N.J. It is Haddonfield, not Haddenfield. Haddonfield is now in Camden Co. which was created from a portion of Gloucester Co. on March 13, 1844.

1. ↑ England, Cheshire Bishop's Transcripts, Thomas Egerton, christened 15 Nov 1710, Bunbury, Cheshire, England. Father, John Egerton.

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile Edgerton-68 created through the import of breesefam.ged on 09 May 2011 by Tanya Breese. See the Changes page for details of edits.

• WikiTree profile Edgerton-130 created through the import of Remus Wikitree.ged on Feb 12, 2012 by Fred Remus. See the Changes page for details of edits.