Mr. Edgerly was born in Meredith, N. H., not far from Winnepesaukee, November 30, 1804. He was the son of Samuel Edgerly, who married Betsey Smith, January, 1794. There were twelve children in the family. In the earlier generation, his first ancestor who came to this country was Thomas Edgerly, before 1665. He landed probably at Portsmouth, and was received as an inhabitant of Oyster Bay, township of Dover. In the generation that followed there was much trouble with the Indians, and in some cases they were massacred by them. Like many another young man before and since, when he had reached the ‘years of discretion’ he was ambitious to see what the larger life of the city of Boston had for him; and I judge he left home for that purpose when about twenty years of age. I presume he had the struggle most people do to find the right thing to do. But he became a stonecutter (physical labor was not considered as menial then as now). I have no doubt his love for stone was acquired by this labor, for we always had stone steps and stone flagging to our front door before others did, and I believe he advocated strongly stone steps around the Unitarian church building that has since been demolished.
After leaving this business, he went to work in the grain business for a Mr. Vinal. We have seen in some reports that it was Deacon Robert Vinal, and that he was a member of the household; but on applying to Mr. Quincy Vinal, son of Deacon Robert, he said he thought it was without foundation. But he does remember hearing his father say that when Mr. Edgerly first came to Boston, he was the smartest young man he ever knew of, desirous to learn, very energetic, and busy every moment. Be that as it may, I know he was well acquainted with DeaconVinal and Mrs. Vinal, and they were the only ones from Charlestown present at the marriage of Mr. Edgerly at a little home in Boston over seventy years ago, from which house he moved, with his
