Biography of Hamlin L. Edgerton

Hamlin L. Edgerton, of Carbondale, who is known far and wide as one of the enterprising manufacturers and promoters of the Western slope of this state, was born on January 12, 1861, in Ashtabula county, Ohio, and is the son of Daniel G. and Mary (Brewer) Edgerton, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Connecticut. In 1856 the parents moved to Ohio, and after living there a number of years took up their residence in Illinois. The father was a skillful manufacturer of cheese and built one of the finest factories for the purpose in the state of Ohio. This he conducted successfully until it was destroyed by fire with a heavy loss to him. In 1880 he came to Colorado and located at Leadville, his wife and children having preceded him hither two years. After his arrival here the father engaged in the saw-mill business on Tennessee pass. Two years of successful prosecution of his enterprise there enabled him to sell out the business and plant to his sons. He then moved to Glenwood Springs, and in the autumn of 1883 he bought a ranch five miles northwest of Carbondale, where for some years he conducted a dairy and manufactured cheese. He and his wife are now living retired from active pursuits at Carbondale. They are zealous members of the M.E. church, and in political affiliation he is a Republican. They were the parents of four children. Of these one, Louise, then the wife of Eugene Thomas, died on July 20, 1899. The living children are: Julius B., of Leadville; Irvin N., a Methodist minister at Montrose; and Hamlin L., of Carbondale. The last named remained with his parents until he reached his legal majority, aiding in whatever enterprise his father was carrying on and attending the public schools when he had opportunity, thereby securing a limited education, but learning practical usefulness in serviceable labor. He accompanied his mother to this state in 1878, and in 1882 became a member of the firm of J.B. Edgerton & Company, engaged in saw-milling, a business which the sons purchased of their father. In 1884 Hamlin disposed of his interest in this business and located a ranch six miles west of Carbondale in Jerome Park. He continued ranching here until 1899, then sold out at a good profit and bought his present home at Carbondale. He has since been successfully engaged in manufacturing cheese, and in addition is interested in raising cattle. His ranch comprises one hundred and twenty-three acres, forty of which can be cultivated and the rest is given up to grazing. The water supply is good and the land produces hay and grain in abundance. In political activity Mr. Edgerton is a stanch Republican, and in the public local affairs of his community and county he is a man of influence and enterprise. He was married on November 6, 1887, to Miss Mary Brown, a native of Whiteside county, Illinois, but reared in Iowa, where her parents, Charles and Ella (Harding) Brown, settled when she was young. Her father was born in Pennsylvania and her mother in Illinois. They were farmers in their earlier married life, and in later years the father became associated with a street car company at San Jose, California. He is a Republican in political affiliation. They are the parents of three children, Rosa M., William, of Duluth, Minnesota, and Mrs. Edgerton. Mr. and Mrs. Edgerton have eight children, Ernest E., Bessie F., Lloyd G., Iva G., Mary L., Wesley, George H. and Ruth M. Mr. Edgerton is successful in business, useful in citizenship, and generally esteemed.

Source: Bowen, A. W. Progressive Men of Western Colorado. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co., Publishers. 1905.