The first Edgin to reach the shores of America has not yet been determined. There are many records of Edgins residing in England from the early 1600’s on. Although scattered somewhat throughout England the majority seem to have been located around “Hampshire” There is a Hamlet near Torquay with the name of “Edginswell”. With the thought there might be a connection some research was conducted. In response to an E - mail query dated 29 June, 2000, I received the following reply from Mark Pool, Senior Reference Assistant, Torquay, Devon. “Unfortunately there has been no complete written history of Edginswell. The Hamlet has the occasional mention in general histories of Torquay, but regretably there is little detail. We have indexed a number of revelant newspaper clippings and similar items, but again the information is fragmented. The manor of Edginswell is recorded in the Domesday book of 1086. The name is believed to come from “Ecgwulfs Well” but exactly who Ecgwulf was is not known. (the name is most certainly Saxon). Edginswell was for many years a part of the large parish of St. Marychurch; in spite of this it still feels rural.” In the Edgin Family Genealogy Forum dated 11 October, 2000, Clayton Edgin offers the following as a possible origin of the Edgin name. Quote: “In doing some research on Medevial History, I came across something quite interesting. Apparently, near the close of the 9th century there was a fight for Wessex between Alfred the Great and Guthram, a Dane. The battle raged on until Alfred and his men fought the decisive battle at the Battle of Edington. After the battle and treaties were signed (skipping some other minor bits of history of course), some of Alfreds men stayed near Edington, as these men were basically nomads after Guthrum had torn apart their former villages. Edington was not a pleasant place, in fact some sources refer to it as being “swamp like” , but there were some references to people taking the last name of Edington because they were proud of their victory over Guthrum and the Danes. Edington, as I found out later, appears to have been changed somewhere in the 14th to 17th centuries, (no major sites available) where it was shortened to Edgin, Edgen, Edgings, and Edgenton. Edgin was the most popular version it seemed”. End quote. Unfortunately Mr Edgin was unable to list his sources. In the International Genealogical Index of the Mormon Church there are known records of persons being identified with surnames of Edgin/Agent. A Robert Edgin or Agent was married to an Elizabeth Taylor, Jan. 1706, Brixton, Hampshire,England. A John Edgin or Agent married an Eleanor Thorne, 1710, also in Brixton and a Hannah Edgin or Agent married James Edwards 12 Apr. 1787 in Shalfleet, Hampshire, England In 1673 A John Agent was transpoirted from England and landed in Maryland.(Early Settlers of Maryland by Gust Skordas). As the name “Agent “ was used often by many of the Edgin decendants it is possible that he was the first of the Edgin line to reach America. Most Edgin researchers believe the name Edgell was also used by family members in early Maryland and there is documentation to lend support to this belief. Our record begins with the making of a will by Benjamin Edgell in Dorchester County Maryland in 1688. In 1716 a Benjamin Edgen (Edgell) purchased a tract of land known as “Fleharty’s Desire” from a Stephen Fleharty for three thousand pounds of tobacco. ( A copy of the land sale record was obtained from the Maryland Archives. It is difficult to determine with accuracy if the name used in the document is Edgell or Edgen) (Liber old # 7, folio 31 14 Nov. 1716). In 1723 a Benjamin Edgin is mentioned in the will of a Richard Bowdage in Dorchester County Maryland. In 1758 Benjamin Edgell’s will was probated in Dorchester County Maryland. His wife’s name is not known but was probably Mary. There were seven children known to have been born to this marriage. One of whom was John Edgell who married an Elizabeth _______? (I believe her to have been a Reed) This marriage produced a known eleven children one of whom was also named John. This John is thought to have married Elenor Jester in Maryland. We know of two sons who were born in Maryland, Samuel (1783) and Moses (1785). Sometime within the following three years the family migrated to Lincoln County North Carolina where a third son Thomas was born in (1788). There were several other children of this marriage but their names are unknown. Of interest is the fact that at the time of the first census (1790) there were Edgells living in Maryland and at the same time there were Edgins in the census for Kent County Delaware. Both groups bore the identical first names of Benjamin, Thomas and Henry. Tobacco was the principal farm crop of the day but unfortunately it was a hard crop and the land was only good for so long. It was the custom for tobacco growers to move to new land when theirs was worn out from growing tobacco. This could possibly account for the identical names, They were cultivating new land for their crops. John Edgin and his family appear in the 1810 census for Lincoln County North Carolina. In 1813 John appears, with a William Edgin on the tax lists for Franklin Co. Tennessee, as John Agent, (a name used with some frequency by various family members for reasons which are as yet unknown). There is no explanation for the use of this name, although several have been suggested, and it’s association with the name Edgin can be traced back to early England. John had a number of offspring but we are most familiar with three. Samuel, the eldest then Moses and then Thomas. (There were several other children, names unknown, Both Samuel and Moses were born in Maryland in the years 1783 and 1785. Thomas, however, was born in 1788 in the state of North Carolina. It can be assumed that John and his family migrated from Maryland to North Carolina sometime between 1785 and 1788. There is no known record of Thomas Edgin’s whereabouts during this period of time. He is believed to have married a woman by the name of McNew (1817 - 1820) in North Carolina. In researching this name I came across the name of Celia McNew who seems to meet the criteria to have been Thomas’s first wife. Her age is acceptable, their first born daughter was named Celia, presumably after her, and a son was named Churchwell, an unusual name, but one shared by Celia’s cousin, Churchwell McNew. Celia was one of twelve children born to George McNew and Amelia Hargas in Washington County Virginia. Note: There is a record of a marriage of a Celia McNew to a Charles Allen, 1816 in Washington County Virginia. I believe this to be the same Celia but the cause of the short marriage is unknown. Records indicate that Charles was only 16 years of age and Celia was 20. In the 1820 census there was a Celia Agent living in Rutherford County Tennessee, in the same general area with a Moses Agin and a Nathan Edgin. These are both believed to be relatives of Thomas Edgin and quite likely his brothers and she is most likely Thomas’s wife. The whereabouts of Thomas are again unknown but it is feasible to speculate that he may have been a man of the times, a backwoodsman with a desire to explore new territory. In his early manhood he lived in the same general area as Davy Crockett and it is not unlikely that he may have been included in some of Davy’s exploits. I believe he fought in the Creek Indian wars as did his brother Samuel. To this point although there are some factual references to the above it is mostly based on speculation and without verification. Thomas Edgin’s second marriage was to Catherine Conatser in 1831 in Marion County Tennessee and from this marriage on all can be verified. Catherine was the daughter of Henry Conatser, a Tennessee farmer. She was first married to John Blanscet and there were two children from this marriage, Andrew Jackson and Nancy Elizabeth. The children born to Thomas and Catherine were; Elizabeth (1832), Sarah (1833), Catherine (1835), Thomas Preston (1837), James Madison (1838) and Jennifer abt.(1841). All were born in Tennessee. Sometime prior to 1850 the family moved to DeKalb County Alabama, where we find them listed on the 1850 census under the name of Agent. It is thought by some that Thomas and his family were part of a wagon train bound for California from Marion Co. Tn., in company with others, some of whom bear close relationships with the Edgin family. There were the Conatsers, the Nichols and the Blancscets to name a few. There were undoubtedly more but their names are unknown. The story is that by the time the train reached Arkansas many of the group were ill and all were tired. A decision was made to halt for a while and rest but the westward trek was never continued. By the 1860 census the family was in Franklin County Arkansas. They were again using the name Edgin. James Madison married Eliza Jane Riley October 6, 1859 at Clarksville, Johnson County Arkansas. James married under the name of Agent By the 1870 census James and Eliza Jane had moved to Center Township, Dallas Post Office, Polk County Arkansas and were again using the name Agent. There were eight children born to this marriage; Benjamin (1858), Thomas (1861), Mary L. (1869), James W. (1871), William Riley (1873), Minty T. (1874), Margaret L. (1876) and John David (1878) All were born in Polk County Arkansas. James Madison Edgin saw service in the Confederate Army. He was captured by Federal troops and first imprisoned at Little Rock Arkansas, then at St. Louis Missouri, then at Alton Illinois and finally at Rock Island Illinois. He was a Union prisoner for approximately one year and was exchanged at Red River Landing in Louisana. James died in 1878 at forty years of age. His place of burial is unknown. James, his Father Thomas as well as two Nathans are all using the name Agent in the 1870 census. Thomas, the second son of James and Eliza Jane, married Roxey Markham 12 February, 1892 in Crawford County Arkansas, and a son, Clive was born to this marriage. Roxey apparently died in childbirth or shortly thereafter. Thomas’s second marriage was to Bertha Cook, the daughter of Charles Alvin Cook and Lucy Durrett both of whom were from Missouri. There were seven children born to Thomas and Bertha; William and Riley who were twins, Ellen, Roy, Cumi, Sula, Clay and Quita Faye who died in infancy. Riley married Sittle Jean Hood, the daughter of John Timothy Hood and Jocie Cordelia Foster. There were two children born to this marriage; Opal Gelean and Carol Douglas. Riley moved his family to Muskogee Oklahoma about 1928 - 1929 and then in 1936 they again moved to the Santa Clara Valley in California. Riley died in 1946 and is buried, along with Sittle Jean, in the National Cemetery at San Bruno California. Carol Douglas married Helen Lucille Garrison in Reno Nevada, October 8, 1942. Helen Lucille was the daughter of William Garrison and Melissa Jane Smith. They have four children; Sharon Carol, Janice Lucille, Rory and Riley.