Epes Sargent (landowner)

Colonel Epes Sargent (July 12, 1690 – December 6, 1762) was an American landowner, merchant, politician and military officer from Gloucester, Massachusetts.[1]

Epes Sargent
Portrait of Sargent by John Copley, 1760
Representative of the General Court of Massachusetts
In office
1744–1744
Personal details
Born(1690-07-12)12 July 1690
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Died6 December 1762(1762-12-06) (aged 72)
Salem, Massachusetts
Spouses
Esther McCarty
(m. 1720; died 1743)
Catherine Winthrop
(m. 1744)
RelationsDaniel Sargent (grandson)
Henry Sargent (grandson)
Lucius Manlius Sargent (grandson)
Judith Sargent (granddaughter)
Winthrop Sargent (grandson)
William Sargent (grandson)
John Sargent (grandson)
Winthrop Sargent (grandson)
Children16, including Daniel, Paul, John
Parent(s)William Sargent
Mary Duncan

Early life and family

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Sargent was born on July 12, 1690, in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He was the seventh of fifteen children born to William Sargent II (1659–1707), who came to Gloucester before 1678, and Mary Duncan (died 1724),[2][3] daughter of Peter Duncan and step-granddaughter of Samuel Symonds, deputy Governor.[4]

His maternal grandparents were Mary Eppes (1629–1692) and Peter Duncan (1629–1716), who emigrated from England to Massachusetts. His paternal grandfather was William Sargent (born c. 1610) from Exeter, England.[4]

Career

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Sargent was one of the largest landholders in Gloucester.[5] He served as a colonel in the Massachusetts militia before the Revolutionary War and was a justice of the general session court for more than thirty years.[6]

In 1744, he was selected as Gloucester's representative in the General Court of Massachusetts.[3]

In 1760, two years before his death, he had his portrait painted by John Singleton Copley.[5]

Personal life

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Catherine Winthrop Sargent, second wife of Col. Sargent, from a portrait by Smybert which is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
 
Mrs. Epes Sargent II by John Singleton Copley 1764

On April 1, 1720, he married Esther McCarty (1701–1743), daughter of Florence McCarty, one of the founders of the first Protestant Episcopal society in New England.[3] Before Esther's death, she gave birth to:[3]

  • Epes Sargent (1721–1779), who married Catherine Osborne (1722–1788), daughter of Hon. John Osborne.[4] He was the great-grandfather of Epes Sargent (1813–1880).
  • Esther Sargent (1722–1745), who married Col. Thomas Goldthwaite (1718–1799).[4][7]
  • Ignatius Sargent (b. 1724).[4]
  • Thomas Sargent (1726–1727), who died young.[4]
  • Winthrop Sargent (1727–1793), who married Judith Saunders (1731–1793).[4]
  • Sara Sargent (1729–1792).[4]
  • Daniel Sargent Sr. (1730–1806), a successful merchant who was referred to as the "merchant prince". He married Mary Turner (1743–1813).[8]
  • William Sargent (1733–1736), who died young.[4]
  • Benjamin Sargent (b. 1736).[4]
  • Mary Ann Sargent (b. 1740), who died in infancy.[4]

After Esther's death, Epes Sargent married Catherine (née Winthrop) Brown (1711–1781), the widow of Samuel Brown and the daughter of Ann Dudley and John Winthrop (1681–1747), on August 10, 1744, and moved to Salem, Massachusetts. Catherine's maternal grandfather was Gov. Joseph Dudley and her paternal grandfather was Wait Winthrop, son of Gov. John Winthrop the Younger and grandson of Gov. John Winthrop, both Governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Together, they were the parents of:[3]

Sargent died on December 6, 1762, in Salem[6] and his remains were removed to Gloucester for burial.[10]

Descendants

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His grandchildren included Daniel Sargent (1764–1842), a politician who was close friends with President John Quincy Adams,[11] Henry Sargent (1770–1845), a painter, Lucius Manlius Sargent (1786–1867), a temperance advocate, Judith Sargent Murray (1751–1820), a poet and advocate for women's rights, and Winthrop Sargent (1753–1820), Governor of the Mississippi Territory.[12]

The artist John Singer Sargent is a descendant of Epes's son Winthrop.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Farrell, Betty (1993). Elite Families: Class and Power in Nineteenth-Century Boston. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780791415931. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  2. ^ Emma Worcester Sargent and Charles Sprague Sargent. Epes Sargent of Gloucester and His Descendants. Boston,
  3. ^ a b c d e Cutter, William Richard (2000). Genealogical and Personal Memoirs: Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts. Genealogical Publishing Com. ISBN 9780806345499. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Sheppard, John Hannibal (1871). Reminiscences of Lucius Manlius Sargent: With an Appendix Containing a Genealogy of His Family, and Other Matters. D. Clapp & son. p. 27. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Epes Sargent". www.nga.gov. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  6. ^ a b Sargent, Winthrop (1920). Colonel Paul Dudley Sargent. Philadelphia: Printed for Private Collection. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  7. ^ Maine Historical Society (1896). Collections and proceedings. The Society. p. 35. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  8. ^ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. New England Historic Genealogical Society. 1871. p. 210. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  9. ^ Sabine, Lorenzo (2009). Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution. Applewood Books. p. 255. ISBN 9781429019538. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  10. ^ New England Historic Genealogical Society (1994). The New England Historical and Genealogical Register: Volume 25 1871. Heritage Books. p. 210. ISBN 9780788401251. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  11. ^ Nagel, Paul C. (1999). John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674479401. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  12. ^ Sargent, Emma Worcester (1923). Epes Sargent of Gloucester and His Descendants. Houghton Mifflin. Retrieved 23 August 2017.