This portion of the book is freely available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License provided you give the citation listed above. On the web, a link to this page would be helpful.
Bassett-Edgecomb-Snyder
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Parents of Phileas S. Edgecomb
Phineas Spencer Edgecomb (1795-1881), Mariah Brooks (d.1836), Mairah Brooks UNKNOWN, and Tabitha J. Shafer (1826-1894)
Key words: Phineas Edgecomb, Mariah Brooks, Mariah Edgecomb, Phineas and Mariah Edgecomb, Phineas S. and Mariah Edgecomb, Mary Ann Brooks, Mary Ann Edgecomb, Phineas and Mary Ann Edgecomb, Phineas S. and Mary Ann Edgecomb, Mairah Brooks, Mairah Edgecomb, Phineas and Mairah Edgecomb, Phineas S. and Mairah Edgecomb, Tabitha Shafer, Tabitha Edgecomb, Tabitha J. Edgecomb, Phineas and Tabitha Edgecomb, Phineas S. and Tabitha J. Edgecomb, Phineas S. and Tabitha J. Shafer Edgecomb, Phineas and Tabitha Shafer Edgecomb
Phineas Edgecomb was a son of John Edgecomb (brother to Uriah b.1781) and Elizabeth Olmstead Edgecomb. He was born on 5 Sep 17952 in Canton, Hartford Co., Connecticut3. His mother died at the age of 26, when he was six years old. He was first married to Mariah (or Mary Ann) Brooks in "New Mulberry"3 (probably New Marlborough), MA on 20 Sep 1832. There were three children born to this marriage, with two living to adulthood:
It may be that Mariah died from complications related to childbirth since her death in Trumbull County was only eight days after the birth of John V. 4
After the death of Mariah, Phineas went from Ohio to Chenango Co., NY to marry Mairah, a sister of his first wife who was recently widowed. They had one child who died at a young age. In 1842, Phineas bought land in the northeast corner of section 14 of Bath Township, Allen Co., OH (across the road from Samuel and Elsie Bassitt) from John and Fanny (Doud) Lewis, brother-in-law and sister of Betsy (Doud) Edgecomb who was the wife of Phineas' uncle Uriah. In the deed, both parties are listed as "of Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio". In 1843 Phineas moved to his land in Allen County.
Phineas' third marriage was to Tabitha J. Shafer (15 Jan 1826 - 30 Aug 1894) of Auglaize Co., OH on 1 Mar 1846, and they had eleven children (all born in Allen County, Ohio)5:
The relationship between Phineas and his oldest son, Luther, is hard to understand. In 1850, Luther, (aged 16) was not living at home. In 1860, he was living in New Marlborough, Berkshire Co., MA - perhaps living with friends or relatives of his mother? In contrast, his brother John was living at home with his father during that whole time period. In 1870, Luther was living in Bath Twp., Allen Co., OH with his son Charles in the household of Elias Everett. He is listed as a "lecturer" (perhaps a school teacher?). This location was only about a mile down the road from where his father lived. But by 1880, his family seems to have lost contact with him and said simply that he lived "somewhere in the west".3
Phineas was a charter member of the Lima Masonic Lodge and was well-known for his orchards. "The cultivation and improvement of fruit has been his pride and delight, and he has one of the finest orchards in the county, and his fruit cannot be exceeded. A farmer who has been awarded the first premium on apples for a number of years finally revealed the fact that the fruit came from Mr. Edgecomb's orchard." 6
Frank P. Edgecomb recalled in an interesting interview (recorded in 1944 when he was 92 years old) that "when we were boys, Philo Bassett [son of Sarah Edgecomb Bassett] and I had never made rails but we wanted to try. [Split rails were used by pioneers for fences.] We made 4000 for my father [Phineas], 5000 for Lew Bassett (Philo's father) and 17 000 for Almon Hadsell. By that time we felt as if we knew how to make rails!"7 This story gives just one indication of the amount of hard manual labor that was involved in farming at that time, as well as the large number of trees that were being cut as the virgin forest was destroyed. In addition to farming, Phineas Edgecomb was also a carpenter. He died on 14 Mar 1881. 8
This account was taken from History
of the Edgecomb, Bassitt, and Snyder Families of Allen County, Ohio by
Steven J. Bassett Baskauf, 2007.
This portion of the book is freely
available under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License provided you give the citation
listed above. On the web, a link to this page would be helpful.
Comments? Questions? Contact Steve Baskauf
References:
1. Barbour Collection, Connecticut Vital Records, New Hartford:14
2. Frank P Edgecomb's Reminiscences, 1944 Oct 29, recorded at Allen Co, OH Museum. This date agrees with that calculated from his tombstone.
3. Allen County Democrat, 9 Sep 1880. Quoted in Allen County Democrat, 9 Sep 1880. Quoted in http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.edgecomb/64.1/mb.ashx
4. Communication from Maurice A. Click, Olympia, Washington, 1991 July 9
5. Family Bible of Phineas Edgecomb, found among family Bible records at the Allen County Museum, Lima, Ohio
7. "Frank P. Edgecomb's Reminiscences", from Allen County Museum files
8. Tombstone inscription, Sproat Cemetery, Wolfe Rd., Bath Twp., Allen Co., OH. "Phineas S Edgecomb died Mar 14, 1881 aged 85 y 6 m 9 d".
9. Luther Edgecomb census references:
1860 New Marlborough, Berkshire Co., MA p.566 Luther B. Edgecomb
In this record, Luther, aged 26 (inferred birthdate c.1834) is
living in the household of Henry (aged 65) and Linda (aged 60) Sheldon with
their (apparently) unmarried children Eliza M. (aged 26 and a "spinster"),
Elizur (? aged 26 and twin of Eliza), John D. (aged 21), and Edward E. (aged
19). Who were they, and why was Luther living with them? I don't doubt that this
is the right Luther, as his age agrees with the 1870 and 1900 censuses and
unlike the rest of the household, he is listed as born in Ohio. Perhaps Linda
Sheldon was Linda Brooks Sheldon and an aunt. Although the census index lists
the town as Marlborough, the census image makes it clear that it is actually New
Marlborough which is in southwestern Massachusetts and about 35 miles from
Canton, Connecticut where Phineas was born. I think that it is likely that the
"New Mulberry" mentioned in the 1880 Allen Co. Democrat article is actually New
Marlborough. If the reporter wrote this from a verbal interview the names would
have sounded very similar.
The 1860 census index for New Marlborough lists about 20 Brooks, including a Luther Brooks, aged 58, possibly a son of the 1790 Luther Brooks, possibly a brother of the Brooks sisters who married Phineas. Why Luther was not living with his father (who had been remarried for years by that time) and brother John in Bath Township, Allen Co., OH is a mystery. Perhaps there was "bad blood" between Phineas and Luther as evidenced by the apparent lack of communication hinted at in the 1880 article. Where was Luther in 1850?
1870 Bath Twp.,
Allen Co., OH, p.323 Luther Edgecomb
In this record, Luther, now 36 is living with his son Charles (aged 6, born in
NY) in the household of Elias and Marilla Everett. I know who they are - their
daughter Alice (listed as aged 14) was later the wife of Philo Bassett who was
the son of Lewis and Sarah (Edgecomb) Bassitt. Why he is living there, I don't
know. Their home was about 3/4 of a mile from where Phineas lived, so he
certainly was living near his family. On this census record, he was described as
"Lecturer". At first I thought it was "laborer", which was a common description
for young men who were not heads of households. However, the Everett boys (half
brothers to Alice) were described as "farm laborers" and it seems fairly clear
on the image that the word is "lecturer". I don't know exactly what that means.
My guess would be "school teacher", but why didn't they just say that?
1880 Morris
Valley, Morris Co., KS L. Edgecomb, wife Anna E. Edgecomb, aged 30, born in OH, daughter
Maggie M., aged 7, born in OH.
The "L. Edgecomb" listed here was aged 48. That would put his
birth date at about 1832 rather than 1834 as suggested by the other census
records. He is listed as born in Ohio, which matches with the 1860 and 1870
censuses. His father is listed as born in Mass (the old-style "Mafs" if I'm
reading the script correctly), which would not be correct (should be Conn.) but
given that his Mother was from there, this could be excusable. The birthplace of
mother is given as Ohio (should be Mass?), which is also not right, but given
that his family had lived there, it could be a reasonable mistake, particularly
if the wife was the one who gave the information to the census-taker. There is
definitely a Maggie M. daughter. However, the George that is given in the index
as "something other than a direct relationship" is clearly crossed out on the
actual record. Likewise the age of 5 given in the index is clearly manufactured
- there is nothing in the age column on the actual record. So why was a George
written in and scratched out?
1900 Swan Twp.,
Taney Co., MO, p. 13b, Luther Edgecomb (living by himself), born in Ohio,
father and mother born in Ohio.
Unfortunately, this page is not very legible due to lightness of
the ink and sloppiness on the part of the census-taker. Fortunately, Luther's
entry is near the bottom where it is darker. His birth date is given as Nov.
1833 if I am reading it properly - that fits with the listed age of 66 and
census date of June 1900 and would work with the 1860 and 1870 census ages. I
have some difficulty recognizing the name as Luther, although whomever indexed
this seemed to recognize the name. His marital status is not clear. It looks
like it was "m" but perhaps "w" was scribbled over that. That would make sense
if second wife Anna had died between 1895 and 1900. Luther apparently
bought land in Taney Co. in 1904.
Phineas Edgecomb census references:
U.S. Census of 1850 for Bath Twp., Allen Co., OH, p.492 [blank 1850 form]
U.S. Census of 1860 for Bath Twp., Allen Co., OH, p. 407. [blank 1860 form]
U.S. Census of 1870 for Bath Twp., Allen Co., OH, p. 317. [blank 1870 form]
U.S. Census of 1880 for Bath Twp., Allen Co., OH, p. 396. [blank 1880 form]
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