Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2015 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= USGenNet Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== A History of Northern Michigan and its People. Vol. II Perry Francis Powers, Lewis Publishing Co., - 1912 [713-715] WILL E. EDGERTON - The present efficient and popular sheriff of Emmet county has been closely identified with the industrial and civic activities of this county, where he has maintained his home since 1886 and where he has gained definite independence and prosperity through his own well directed endeavors, the while he has so ordered his course as to retain the high esteem of the community. He has served in various local offices of public trust and he assumed the duties of his present important office on the 1st of January, 1911, prior to which time he had given effective ser- vice as deputy sheriff. He is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of Michigan and his parents, each of whom has passed the psalmist's span of three score years and ten, now reside in the village of Brutus, Emmet county, where his father has the distinction of being the oldest blacksmith in the state actively engaged in the work of his trade. WILL E. EDGERTON, whose duties as sheriff of the county, involve his residence in its judicial center, the attractive little city of Petoskey, is a native of Steubenville, Jefferson county, Ohio, where he was born on the 17th of December, 1858, and he is a son of HARRIS and DELIA (EDGERTON) EDGERTON, both of whom were born in Vermont and both of whom are repre- sentatives of families founded in historic New England in the colonial era. Of the three children SHERIFF EDGERTON is the elder of the two now living, and his sister, ETTA, is the wife of GEORGE AURAND, of Flint, this state. HARRIS EDGERTON was a child at the time of his parents' immigration from New England to the wilds of Michigan, and his father, CURTIS EDGERTON, became one of the early settlers of St. Clair county, this state, where he reclaimed a farm from the virgin forest and where both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives. There HARRIS EDGERTON was reared to adult age under the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm, and his educa- tional advantages in his youth were limited to the somewhat primitive schools of the locality and period. As a youth he went to Almont, Lapeer county, where he served an apprenticeship to the blacksmith trade, and later he removed to the state of New York, where his marriage was solemnized. Shortly afterward he established his residence in Steubenville, Ohio, where he was engaged in the work of his trade until the early '60s, when he returned to New York state, where he soon afterward subordinated all other interests to go, forth as a loyal soldier of the Union In the city of Rochester he enlisted as a private in the Twenty-second New York Volunteer Calvary, with which he proceeded to the front and with which he took part in a number of the important engage ments marking the progress of the great conflict. His enlistment was for a term of three years "or during the war," and he continued at the post of duty until his health became so impaired as to incapacitate him for further service, under which conditions he received his honorable discharge, in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. He then returned to Steubenville, Ohio, and after his recovery he returned to Almont, Michigan, where he was engaged in the work of his trade for a period of about three years. His field of endeavor for the next three years was at Midland City, Midland county, and he then returned to Lapeer county and engaged in business at his trade in the village of Columbiaville, where he continued to maintain his home about eighteen years, at the expiration of which he located in the village of Brutus, Emmet county, where he has since been actively engaged in the work of his trade and where he is a citizen who commands the unqualified confidence and esteem of the commun- ity. His life has been one of consecutive industry and he is a man of strong character and sterling qualities. He has served two terms as clerk of Brutus township, is a stalwart in the camp of the Republican party, and is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The present sheriff of Emmet county gained his rudimentary discipline in the village schools of Almont, Lapeer county, and supple- mented this by an effective course of study in the public schools of Goodrichville, now known as Goodrich, in Genesee county. His first independent occupation was that of laborer on the farm of JOHN SCHUMAN, in the vicinity of Goodrichville, and in compensation for his services he received eight dollars a month and his board. Later he was similarly employed on the farm of JOHN COATS of Oakland counly, and here he commanded an augmented stipend, as he received thirteen dollars a month. He was still a boy when he entered the employ of the firm of CARPENTER Brothers, who were engaged in lumbering operations in Lapeer county, and from the position of general-utility boy in the lumber woods he was gradually advanced by this firm until he had the entire supervision of a crew of eighty workmen. He continued with this concern for nine years, and soon after his marriage, which was solemnized in 1878, he established his permanent home in Emmet county, where he secured a homestead claim of eighty acres of wild land, one and one-half miles east of the little hamlet of Brutus, and instituted the reclamation of a farm. He applied himself with diligence and by good management he developed the place into a valuable property. In the meanwhile MR. EDGERTON had shown a lively interest in all that touched the welfare of the community and he had been appointed deputy sheriff of the county, an office of which he continued incumbent during thirteen years, nine of which he also held the position of superintendent of the county farm and poor house. His total service as deputy sheriff covered a period of thirteen years, and thus he was a most logical candidate for the still more responsible office of sheriff, to which he was elected in November, 1910, and in which his administration has been marked by the utmost efficiency and vigor. He also served five years as highway commissioner of Maple River township and was for three years incumbent of the office of school director of the Brutus district. The sheriff is unswerving in his allegiance to the Republican party and has been a zealous worker in behalf of its cause. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees and he is well known throughout the county in which he has so long maintained his home and in which his popularity is of the most unequivocal type. On the 3d of July, 1878, was recorded the marriage of MR. EDGERTON to MISS SARAH A. LAUTHERS, who was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, and who is a daughter of JOHN and SARAH LAUTHERS, both natives of Ireland, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they soon afterward came to America and established their home in Ontario, Canada, where all of their children were born. Finally MR. LAUTHERS came with his family to Michigan and engaged in agricultural pursuits in Lapeer county, where he remained until 1881, when he established his home in Petoskey, where he is now living virtually retired and where his wife died several years ago. Of the six children MRS. EDGERTON was the second in order of birth. MR. and MRS. EDGERTON became the parents of nine children, of whom five are living, namely: CUSTER R., MARY, WINIFRED, HUGH, and BINA F. ================================================================================ If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access more of our growing collection of FREE online information by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/ ================================================================================