EDGERTON – Alfred Peleg Edgerton was born in Plattsburg, N.Y., on January 11, 1813. In 1837, he moved to Hicksville as a land agent for Hicks & Company and the American Land Company. In 1845, Mr. Edgerton was elected to the Ohio Senate. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1850 and reelected in 1852. The village of Edgerton, surveyed on April 22, 1854, was named after Mr. Edgerton. H.S. Knapp wrote in his 1877 History of the Maumee Valley, “A larger number of people now occupying farms in northwestern Ohio derived their titles through Mr. Edgerton than from any other source except directly through the federal or state governments, and no land agent has ever been more liberal in arrangements with actual settlers.” The 1882 Goodspeed Williams County history states that Edgerton contributed more real estate and money to northwest Ohio churches than anyone else at that time. Alfred P. Edgerton died at his Hicksville home on May 14, 1897, at the age of 84. This portrait of Alfred P. Edgerton is from Knapp’s 1877 History of the Maumee Valley. Do you have a Williams County historic photo you would like to share? Email: publisher@thevillagereporter.com.
