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New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: Vol 1
By William Richard Cutter
Pg 242
EDGECOMB
Nicholas Edgecomb, descended from a junior branch of the ancient and distinguished family in Devonshire, England, came to Blue Point, Scarborough, Maine, as early as 1639 and opened a plantation on a tract of fifty acres, rented of Captain Richard Bonython. He took the oath of submission to Massachusetts, July 13, 1658. In 1660 he sold a house and land at Blue Point and removed to Biddeford, where he was a juror in 1661. He bought fifty acres of land at Saco, formerly part of Biddeford, March 20, 1662. His wife's name was Wilmot.
Children, according to the "Saco Valley Settlements and Families:"
Robert, mentioned below;
John, was selectman of Saco, 1686;
Christopher, living at Scarborough, 1675;
Michael, was at Blue Point, 1675;
Miles, born 1651;
Mary, married George Page, removed to Marblehead;
Joanna, married ________ Pyncheon, Boston.
Nicholas Edgecomb, of Plymouth, England, had a son John, who came to Kittery, Maine, as early as 1640, removed to New London, Connecticut, and founded a prominent family. It is said that his father Nicholas was instrumental in establishing a settlement on Casco Bay, and visited it in 1658. It seems probable, therefore, that this John Edgecomb was a brother of Nicholas (1), and that Nicholas was a son of Nicholas of Plymouth.
Some of the Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr: Vol 2
By Charles Allen Converse
pg 756-759
The following sketch of Nicholas Edgecomb of Plymouth, Old England, and his ancestry, by Mr. Eben Putnam, is based upon researches made under his direction among original archives and MSS. collections in England, and from printed sources and original records in New England:
Nicholas And John Edgecombe Of Plymouth, Old England, And New London Respectively: Their Ancestors: With Notes On The EdgeCombeGrant, The Edgcumbes Of Mount Edgcumbe, And The Edgecumbes Of Casco Bay, Maine, By Eben Putnam.
Nicholas Edgecombe "of Plymouth in Old England" in 1674, is described in the Visitation of Devonshire of 1620 as then aged eight years and the "sone and heyr" of "Pet. Edgcomb of Plimouth 2 sone liueing 1620." This pedigree is signed bv Thomas Edgcumbe and John Edgcumbe both of Tavistock, brother of Peter, the father of Nicholas. It is Harl. MSS. 1163 in the British Museum.
The register of St. Andrews, Plymouth, contains the following entries:
1611, Sept. 2, Peter Edgcombe and Elizabeth Colwill married.
1612, June 21, Nicholas son of Peter Edgcombe baptized.
1619, Nov. 30, Elizabeth daughter of Peter Edgecombe baptized. ?1668, Oct. 8, Nicholas Edgecombe and Elizabeth Tyack married. ?1677, July 3, Elizabeth, wife of Nicholas Edgecombe buried. ?1679, July 8, Nicholas Edgcombe and Mary Holditch married. ?
These items are all which have been gleaned which appear to throw light upon the life of Nicholas Edgecombe until many years after the Civil Wars, during which Plymouth was in an almost constant state of siege or blockade and repelled several assaults. Plymouth has the distinction, not shared by any borough in the west of England, of not changing its politics after the onginal declaration in favor of Parliament. It was a stronghold of Puritanism and the first borough to declare for William of Orange.
The Mount Edgcumbe family was loyal to the King, so also were Matthew Edgcombe and his son Richard of Tavistock.
That Nicholas Edgecombe was a royalist is probable. In 1684, Charles II called upon the borough of Plymouth to surrender its charter, but in June granted a new charter in which the corporation was named and presumably were stanch King's men. Nicholas Edgecombe was nominated as one ofthe first Common Council, Sir Richard Edgcumb as one of the burgesses. (Hist. MSS. Com., App. 9th Report, page 28.)
The Edgecombe had long been associated with Plymouth. In 1452 a William Edgecombe was sworn to the Common Council (Hist. MSS. Com., 9th Report, p. 266; Worth's History of Plymouth, p. 71). In 1541, a William Edgecombe of Plymouth is mentioned. In 1552, Richard Edgecombe was M. P. for the borough. Abraham Edgecombe was constable in 1659.
Nicholas Edgecombe was chosen Alderman in 1694, but in the new charter granted by William, the year following, his name is not mentioned, either among the Aldermen, Council or Burgesses.
Then as now, brewing was a trade held in good repute in England, and in his will Nicholas describes himself as a brewer.
Nicholas Edgecumbe of Plymouth, Devonshire; will dated 28 March 1702, proved 9 May, 1702. To kinsmen Thomas Edgecumbe of Plymouth, woolen draper, and Jonathan Dipford of Plymouth, merchant, all his goods etc., in trust to pay his funeral charges and a debt due to Mr. John Symkin of Plymouth for which my kinsman Thomas Dipford the elder is bound. The residue, if any, to my daughter, Grace, wife of David Williams, clerke. Executors; the said Thomas Edgecombe, Jonathan Dipford and Bartholomew Avent. P. C. C., Hern 75.
It was quite natural that he should leave his small estate to his probably only surviving daughter, with whom he may have lived, for his son John was in New England and his daughter Elizabeth had died in 1669.
According to the Visitation of 1620, Thomas Edgcombe, brother of Peter, had four sons, the eldest born in 1612. The third son, Thomas, was living m 1644 but died soon, as the nuncupative will of his son John, a Plymouth merchant, was administered upon by his mother Ann, 13 February 1645. This son bequeathed his debts and adventures abroad to Peter Edgcombe his brother. P. C. C., Twisse 12. It is probable that he was that John Edgecombe of Piscataqua in 1640, but of whom no further trace can be found in New England.
The earliest known ancestor of this ancient and reputable family is John de Edgecombe,1 probably born about 1250, named in a deed of 1334, the source of information for the first three generations of the pedigree, who was the father of that Richard Edgecombe,2 said to have built Edgecombe house in 1292. Over an ancient gateway may still be read "R. E. 1292"(Ridlon: Saco Valley Settlements).
Of the sons of Richard1, Reginald5 was a priest, James,' the eldest son, mav have died without issue, as the second son, Richard ' succeeded his father at Edgecombe in 1319. This Richard' was father of William,4 the ancestor of the Mount Edgcumbe family, who died in 1380, and John,4 his heir. John4 was succeeded by his son John' in 1404, who was a party to a deed of 4th Henry VI, 1425. This John' had Richard' of Edgecombe in 1465, who was succeeded by his second son John,7 who in turn had sons John,9 of whom below, Richard' of Buckland, second son, and also an ancestor of Nicholas Edgecombe, the latter's mother being daughter of his son Richard, Roger8 of Meavy, third son, Thomas' of Milton Abbot, fourth son, and Robert" of St. Erny, fifth son.
In early writings the name is variously spelled. In an interesting deed of 1525 from John Wise to Sir Peter (Piers) Edgcumbe the grantee is described as Eggecombe. His son Sir Richard in a deed to the said Wise also calls himself Eggecombe. (Western Antiquary, Vol. VI, p. 143.)
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No other Nicholas Edgecombe appears on the parish registers of that vicinity as married at an earlier date, but contemporary with him of Plymouth was Nicholas Edgecombe of Ermington married at that place to Joan Beare, 25 January 1633-4. Ermington is a parish about ten miles east of Plymouth and the home of a branch of the Edgecombe family of local consequence. The registers of the parish have been carefully examined, and although difficult in the extreme, all facts pertaining to this branch of the family have been obtained.
Joan the wife of Nicholas Edgecombe was buried at Ennington 5 June 1670. Nicholas Edgecombe was buried 6 June 1678.
Vivian asserts that John Edjjecombe of Plymouth, cooper, whose will was proved in 1711 was son of Nicholas Edgecombe. Although giving his burial from Charles parish register 20 July 1711, he does not seem to nave found his baptism or other data to prove his assertion. It is doubtful if he had seen the will following:
John Edgecombe of Plymouth, cooper, will dated 19 May, 1711, proved 30 August, 1711 by Catherine Gennys, wife of John Gennys, etc. . . To the poor of Landulph, co. Cornwall 40 sh. To brother in law Richard Sowdon and his brother John Sowdon. Sister Temperance wife of said Richard Sowdon. Grandson John Hawkins my tenement in Landulph. Granddaughter Mary Hawkins ???100. Grandson John Gennys, granddaughter Elizabeth Gennys, each ???25. Sister Thomasine, wife of Walter Raine of Landulph, yeoman, ???20, and to her daughter Elizabeth, ???3. Her daughter Katherine,???3. Late servant Elizabeth Cundy. Brother-in-law William Gennys, of Plymouth, mariner, and my sons-in-law John Hawkins of Quethiocke; co.Cornwall, gent., John Gennys of Plymouth, merchant, a messuage wherem William Spureing lately lived situate m Plymouth, to the use of my daughter Katherine Gennys. Messuage where I now dwell, and the cellars and key belonging situate at Foxhole Key in Plymouth, to my said trustees for the benefit of my son William Edgecombe in case he return to England, and be reformed and live a sober life, I give him ???100. Residue to said daughter Katherine Gennys who sole executrix. P. C. C., Young 165.
The inference drawn from this will cannot be other than that John Edgecombe was one of the Cornish Edgecombes, and that in all probabilitieshis birthplace was Landulph, that he was at least seventy five years of age and could by no means be the son of Nicholas Edgecombe of Plymouth,especially by the marriage with Elizabeth Tyack. It is also noteworthy that he fails to name any relatives by the name except his son, nor do any ofthe legatees in this will appear by any of the numerous wills or otherwise to be connected with any of the Devonshire branches.
In the face of the definite statement by John Edgecombe of New London that he was the son of Nicholas Edgecombe of Plymouth and as most careful research has failed to develop any other Nicholas Edgecombe of Plymouth than the one who appears in the Visitation, with the exception ofa Nicholas, son of a John Edgecombe who was buried 24 May 1693, the year prior to the election of the elder Nicholas as Alderman, Col. Vivian's assertion, | hitherto unchallenged, must be acknowledged to be incorrect.
https://archive.org/stream/edgecombeofdevon00inputn/edgecombeofdevon00inputn_djvu.txt