Individual Details
John Sargent
(1696 - 4 Jul 1727)
SOME DESCENDANTS OF DIGORY SARGENT > OF BOSTON AND WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS
(From Hemenay Book -- Bennington, Vermont
LIEUT. JOHN2 SARGENT (Digory1), born about 1696-7, was taken captive by the Indians at Worcester in 1704, carried to Canada, and released about 1716. He became a scout and interpreter in the service of the Province of Massachusetts; was in garrison, under Lieut. Joseph Kellogg, at Northfield, Mass., in 1721, and there as centinel under Capt. Samuel Bernard in 1722; a corporal under Capt. Joseph Kellogg, 1723-4, and Sergeant, 1730. Lieutenant under Capt. Kellogg 1738-45, and at Fort Drummer, under Capt. Josiah Willard 1747-8 (Mass Archives; and History of Northfield, pp. 157, 192, 197, 208, 217, 256> , 532). On 29 Nov., 1738, he petitioned the General Court (Mass. Archives, lxxii., 470; and History of Northfield, p. 257) for a grant of land on account of services, setting forth therein the killing of his father, mother, and brother by the Indians at Worcester in 1704 and the captivity of the five brothers and sisters. Two hundred acres above Northfield, in the vicinity of Fort Dummer (now Brattleboro, Vermont), were granted him; in addition to which he had previously acquired by purchase, 7 May, 1733, from Josiah Willard and Edward Hartwell, both of Lunenburg, for 100 pounds, a 1/2 tract of land being on the westerly side of Connecticut River below Fort Dummer, containing by estimation 161 acres, and by further purchase, 1 Oct., 1733, from Josiah Willard, of Lunenburg, the remaining 1/2 a tract of land, in the same locality and containing in the whole 161 acres, being a part of a Grant made to the proprietors of Lunenburg Oct. 1 1731 by the General Court (Worcester Co. Deeds, vol. G, pp. 258, 261), besides a purchase, 19 Sept., 1734 from Stephen Beldin> g of Northfield, for 40 pounds, three tracts of land in the township of Northfield (Worcester Co. Deeds, vol. 11, p. 100). He married, 4 July, 1727, Abigail, born 4 Dec., 1702, daughter of Ebenezer2 (Griffith1) and Mercy (Bagg) Jones of Springfield, Mass. According to the account published in various histories, he was in command of a scouting party out of Fort Dummer on 29 Mar., 1748, when they were ambushed by a band of Indians, and he and two others killed and scalped, and his son Daniel taken captive; but he following from an article communicated to the Vermont Phoenix, 26 June, 1885, by David Lufkin Mansfield, Esq., the historian, of Dummerston, Vermont, to who the writer is indebted for much material concerning the descendants of Lieut. John Sargent, gives a somewhat different account:
The scalp of Lieutenant Sargent, taken off by the Indian who killed him, was in the possession of the family and descendants for nearly 80 years. Rufus, his son, who died in 1826, kept it during his life. Ophelia and Filura, daughters of Justin Sargent and granddaughters of Rufus, now [1885] living, who have seen the scalp, describe it as having light brown hair, and in size as large as a silver dollar. The particulars of Lieutenant Sargent's death, as related by his descendants, are different from those given in history. The other version, as related to the writer by the granddaughters of Rufus Sargent, is that Lieutenant Sargent was out hunting and the Indian who shot him had mistaken him for some wild animal, as he wore fur clothing and had hidden in the bushes on seeing the Indians approach the fort. As the Indian was watching to do mischief, he scalped his man, but at the same instant recognized in him a person whom he had seen before and who promised him that he should always be friendly to the Indians. He expressed much sorrow for the deeds he had done, and returned Lieutenant Sargent's scalp to his friends. Horatio Sargent, a resident in Massachusetts, borrowed, many years ago, several valuable papers and keepsakes that belonged to Rufus Sargent, with the intention of writing a history of the Sargent family. He died very suddenly before commencing the work, and the papers and valuable,
including the scalp, have never been returned.
In the petition of the son Daniel for pay during his captivity, he states that his father was slain in fight. (Mass. Archives, lxxiii., 583-4.) The date of death of the widow Abigail has not been found. She was living in 1763, when she deeded land (History of Northfield, p. 257).
(From Hemenay Book -- Bennington, Vermont
LIEUT. JOHN2 SARGENT (Digory1), born about 1696-7, was taken captive by the Indians at Worcester in 1704, carried to Canada, and released about 1716. He became a scout and interpreter in the service of the Province of Massachusetts; was in garrison, under Lieut. Joseph Kellogg, at Northfield, Mass., in 1721, and there as centinel under Capt. Samuel Bernard in 1722; a corporal under Capt. Joseph Kellogg, 1723-4, and Sergeant, 1730. Lieutenant under Capt. Kellogg 1738-45, and at Fort Drummer, under Capt. Josiah Willard 1747-8 (Mass Archives; and History of Northfield, pp. 157, 192, 197, 208, 217, 256> , 532). On 29 Nov., 1738, he petitioned the General Court (Mass. Archives, lxxii., 470; and History of Northfield, p. 257) for a grant of land on account of services, setting forth therein the killing of his father, mother, and brother by the Indians at Worcester in 1704 and the captivity of the five brothers and sisters. Two hundred acres above Northfield, in the vicinity of Fort Dummer (now Brattleboro, Vermont), were granted him; in addition to which he had previously acquired by purchase, 7 May, 1733, from Josiah Willard and Edward Hartwell, both of Lunenburg, for 100 pounds, a 1/2 tract of land being on the westerly side of Connecticut River below Fort Dummer, containing by estimation 161 acres, and by further purchase, 1 Oct., 1733, from Josiah Willard, of Lunenburg, the remaining 1/2 a tract of land, in the same locality and containing in the whole 161 acres, being a part of a Grant made to the proprietors of Lunenburg Oct. 1 1731 by the General Court (Worcester Co. Deeds, vol. G, pp. 258, 261), besides a purchase, 19 Sept., 1734 from Stephen Beldin> g of Northfield, for 40 pounds, three tracts of land in the township of Northfield (Worcester Co. Deeds, vol. 11, p. 100). He married, 4 July, 1727, Abigail, born 4 Dec., 1702, daughter of Ebenezer2 (Griffith1) and Mercy (Bagg) Jones of Springfield, Mass. According to the account published in various histories, he was in command of a scouting party out of Fort Dummer on 29 Mar., 1748, when they were ambushed by a band of Indians, and he and two others killed and scalped, and his son Daniel taken captive; but he following from an article communicated to the Vermont Phoenix, 26 June, 1885, by David Lufkin Mansfield, Esq., the historian, of Dummerston, Vermont, to who the writer is indebted for much material concerning the descendants of Lieut. John Sargent, gives a somewhat different account:
The scalp of Lieutenant Sargent, taken off by the Indian who killed him, was in the possession of the family and descendants for nearly 80 years. Rufus, his son, who died in 1826, kept it during his life. Ophelia and Filura, daughters of Justin Sargent and granddaughters of Rufus, now [1885] living, who have seen the scalp, describe it as having light brown hair, and in size as large as a silver dollar. The particulars of Lieutenant Sargent's death, as related by his descendants, are different from those given in history. The other version, as related to the writer by the granddaughters of Rufus Sargent, is that Lieutenant Sargent was out hunting and the Indian who shot him had mistaken him for some wild animal, as he wore fur clothing and had hidden in the bushes on seeing the Indians approach the fort. As the Indian was watching to do mischief, he scalped his man, but at the same instant recognized in him a person whom he had seen before and who promised him that he should always be friendly to the Indians. He expressed much sorrow for the deeds he had done, and returned Lieutenant Sargent's scalp to his friends. Horatio Sargent, a resident in Massachusetts, borrowed, many years ago, several valuable papers and keepsakes that belonged to Rufus Sargent, with the intention of writing a history of the Sargent family. He died very suddenly before commencing the work, and the papers and valuable,
including the scalp, have never been returned.
In the petition of the son Daniel for pay during his captivity, he states that his father was slain in fight. (Mass. Archives, lxxiii., 583-4.) The date of death of the widow Abigail has not been found. She was living in 1763, when she deeded land (History of Northfield, p. 257).
Events
| Birth | 1696 | ||||
| Marriage | 29 Mar 1718 | Abigail Jones | |||
| Death | 4 Jul 1727 |
Families
| Spouse | Abigail Jones ( - ) |
| Father | Dickery Sargent (1651 - 1702) |
| Sibling | Martha Sargent (1694 - 1722) |
| Sibling | Louis-Philippe Langlais (1698 - 1728) |
| Sibling | Mary Sargent (1700 - ) |