William W. Edgerton Civil War Letters

Biographical Note

William Wilberforce Edgerton was born August 4, 1845 in Waverly, New York to Dorothy Doud and John Leffingwell Edgerton. He was the third of four children, two older sisters and one younger brother. At the age of twelve he left home to live on his own due to the break-up of his family. His father was a traveling lecturer and teacher and was away much of the time. His younger brother lived with his sister Martha and her husband, and his mother moved in with friends in Sparta, Wisconsin, during the Civil War.

Edgerton survived on his own by his wits and succession of small jobs. He spent some time "peddling" but found it a poor way to make a living. He tried harness making, bar tending, and eventually even spent some time working at a race track. By the age of seventeen he found himself working as a blacksmith's apprentice. After a couple of setbacks of the Union forces and a major campaign for new recruits by President Lincoln, Edgerton decided to join the Union Army, and did so in the early part of 1862. He remained at the rank of private throughout the war, and received an honorable discharge on June 18, 1865.

Following his discharge, Edgerton opened a shoe store in Factoryville, New York. The shoe business failed the following year and he moved to Wisconsin. He entered Rush Medical School in Chicago and graduated fourth in his class in 1872. He established a practice in Fort Scott, Kansas for a brief time and then decided to become a country doctor in Wheeling, Missouri. He was married in 1876 and had three children.

After a series of personal tragedies and illnesses, he abandoned his medical practice and bought a general merchandise store in Wheeling, Missouri. He operated it profitably until 1889, at which time he became the president of the local bank. He also later served as Mayor of Wheeling. William Wilberforce Edgerton died on November 11, 1931.

Source

Brief unpublished fifteen page biography with collection file.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Contents

The William W. Edgerton collection is composed of personal correspondence between Civil War private William Wilberforce Edgerton of the 107th New York Volunteers and his immediate family. Most of the letters are between William W. Edgerton and his mother, Dorothy Doud Edgerton. Additional correspondents include his brother, John Howard Edgerton, and his sisters, Martha Newton and Augusta Tenney.

The correspondence is arranged chronologically. Following it are some battle diaries kept by William Edgerton, and some other miscellaneous items.

Note: Locations have been noted exactly as written even though obviously misspelled, e.g. staford for Stafford and corthouse for Courthouse.

Return to the Table of Contents

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open for research.

Use Restrictions

The material in this collection is in the public domain. However, Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, and all reproduction restrictions apply.

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

William W. Edgerton Civil War Letters, Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries.

Acquisition

This collection was donated by Mr. Owsley R. Welch ca. 1955.

Processed by

Steven Bonario, March 1990

Derral Parkin, June 1995

Return to the Table of Contents

Detailed Description

Return to the Table of Contents