by Walton, James.

See previous entry: Little Home Histories, Part 30 -- My Pioneer Grandmother: Anna Hall Edgerton.

James Edgerton Sr. and his wife Sarah Cox Edgerton, moved from North Carolina to Belmont County, Ohio, in 1805.

They located on a tract of land on Captina Creek about three and one-half miles southeast of Stillwater Meeting House.

Soon after coming to the State, he built a mill for grinding grain for the community. The mill was run by water power, as most other mills were in those days. This mill was sold to Isaac Patten some twenty years later. The son, Richard (born in 1786), married Mary Hall, daughter of Joseph and Christiana Peele Hall, in 1808, and located on a quarter section of land about two and one-half miles from Barnesville, and not far from Ridge Meeting House.

Two years later his next younger brother James married Anna Hall, a sister of his brother Richard's wife. They began their married life on a 160 acre tract of land one-half mile east of Somerton. These brothers and their wives must have been frugal and industrious, for we find them each with large families housed in substantial brick houses.

In the spring of 1828 Richard died of typhus fever. Within three weeks, his brother James and two older sons were removed by death of the same disease. The two bereaved sisters labored faithfully to keep their children together, and gave them as good an education as other Friend's children could get in those days. Both the brick houses mentioned above have been destroyed by fire so there is little left to mark the places, once hallowed by the presence of the brave spirits of those who labored there.

When James Edgerton and Anna Hall were married in 1810, the bride was not quite fifteen years of age, and could neither read nor write, but she was well developed and skilled in the work of those early days and wove her ovum linen and blankets. The young couple had arranged to be married the day following Monthly Meeting, at which they "passed Meeting."

The procedure probably originated from a desire of Friends (Quakers) to prevent any unwise or hasty union, and by making it public, so there would be no question in regard to it's legality. The parties were to stand up first in Men's Meeting, and then in the Women's, and declare the "Continuance of their intention of Marriage," with each other. They asked for an appointed Meeting but Women's Meeting refused to grant the request and they had to wait until regular Meeting the next week.

The brides family had made provisions for the Wedding Dinner the next day, and the Groom was thirty miles from home, which meant much more than now. It was thought the Women's Meeting was influenced by a Ministering Friend from England. Perhaps she thought the bride was too young, and would be older in another week. This English Friend was married when she was very old, and the disappointed bride, in recalling the event in later years, said, "She thought it was better to marry in first childhood than in second."

Joseph Edgerton, whose wife was Charity Doudna, like his brother, Richard, settled in the Ridge neighborhood where he continued to live until late in life, when he moved to Iowa. He was one of the favored Ministers of Ohio Yearly Meeting.

In those early days wild turkeys were plentiful, and those people had a novel way of catching them. They would build a pen out of fence rails, five or six feet high and tightly covered on top. Under the bottom rail, a trench was dug large enough to allow a turkey to enter the pen. Corn was then sprinkled in the pen and in the trench. The corn would lead them into pen, and trying to find a way out, they would look above and miss the way they got in. Frequently, several would get in at one time. When dressed and taken to market the sale price was usually a quarter.

James and Sarah Cox's descendants are numerous and many of them have figured largely in the history of Ohio Yearly Meeting since its beginning. Some of the more prominent ones are Joseph Edgerton, Unice Thomasson, Rachel E. Patterson, Abigail Vail, Rebecca Dewees, Jesse Edgerton, Walter Edgerton, Rachel E. Copa, and Esther Fowler -- all Ministers.

Source: Written by: James Walton, Barnesville, Ohio.

See next entry: Little Home Histories, Part 32 -- John H. Edgerton.

For the table of contents and first entry in this series, please see: Little Home Histories, Part 01 -- Table of Contents and Introduction.

This entry is adapted from Little Home Histories in Our Early Homes, Belmont County, Ohio, which was published in 1942. Its publication was coordinated by Robert D. and Beulah Patten McDonald. This entry has been reedited for inclusion in the Pierian Press Fulltext eBooks database, and is included on the Stratton House Inn Website by special permission. This entry is licensed for use ONLY on this Website. It may be used for educational purposes and personal pleasure under fair-use provisions via this Website. Please note that the Stratton House Inn iteration of this entry does NOT include the subject headings assigned each chapter for use in the Fulltext eBooks database.

DATABASE: Fulltext eBooks: Copyright (c) 2002 The Pierian Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved
ENTRY NUMBER: EBK30013731

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