Edgerton, William W.

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.

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