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William Sergeant (d.c. 1674)
Elizabeth Perkins (bp. 1611–by 1670), daughter of John Perkins and Judith Gater
William Sargeant died about 1674. [1] He married first Elizabeth Perkins. [1][2] He married second the widow Joanna (Pindor) Rowell on 18 September 1670 in Amesbury. [1][3] Joanna married third Richard Currier on 26 October 1676 in Amesbury. [1][3]
Elizabeth Perkins was baptized on 25 March 1611 in Hillmorton, Warwickshire. [2] She died before 18 September 1670.
Elizabeth's father refered to Elizabeth as Elizabeth Sergeant in his will of 28 March 1654. [2]
William is on a 1650 list of commoners of Salisbury. [4]
William was sworn clerk of the Salisbury trainband on 8: 2m: 1651. [5]
William was on the grandjury in 1652 and the jury of trials in 1662, 1669 and 1670. [6]
William was on a 19 March 1654/5 list of the first settlers of Amesbury. [4]
George Martin sued William Sargeant for slander at the 13: 2m: 1669 court. He claimed that William said that his wife was a witch. The court sided with the defendant, saying it did not concur. [7] George's wife, Susanna (North) Martin, was hanged for witchcraft in 1692.
William Sargeant of Amesbury wrote his will on 24 March 167_. He named sons Thomas and William; his daughter Elizabeth, the wife of Samuel Colby; his daughter Sarah Sergeant; his daughters Mary and Elizabeth. He also mentioned his grandson William Sargeant; his Challis grandchildren by name; his grandchildren Dorothy and Elizabeth Colby. He made his children Thomas and Sarah his executors and called Thomas Bradbury [the husband of his wife's sister] his brother-in-law. [8]
Children of William Sergeant and Elizabeth Perkins: (order uncertain)
i. Lydia Sargeant (possible daughter?) died between 1660 and 1662 in Salisbury. [9]
ii. Mary Sargeant married Philip Challis. [10]
iii. Elizabeth Sargeant died on 14: 7m: 1641 in Salisbury. [9]
iv. Thomas Sargeant was born on 11: 4m: 1643 in Salisbury. [11] He died on 27 February 1705/6. [10] He married Rachel Barnes on 2: 1m: 1667/8 in Salisbury. Rachel died between 11 April 1717, when she made her will, and 2 February 1718, when it was proved. [10]
At the 14: 2m: 1668 court in Salisbury, Sarah Osgood was sentenced to be whipped twenty stripes at the meeting house for fornication within six weeks of her confinement unless a fine of five pounds was paid. The matter between Thomas Sargeant and Sarah Osgood was continued to the next court at Hampton. At the 13: 8m: 1668 court at Hampton, the court considered Sarah Osgood's accusation that Thomas Sargeant was the father of her child. The court said that it was suspicious, but there was insufficient proof. [12]
At the 13: 2m: 1669 court George Martin sued Thomas Sargeant for slander, for saying that George's son George was a bastard and that his son Richard was Goodwife Martin's imp. George Martin withdrew the charges. [7]
v. William Sargeant was born on 2: 11m: 1645 in Salisbury. [11] He married Mary Colby on 23 September 1668 in Amesbury.
George Martin sued William Sargeant, Jr. for slander at the 13: 2m: 1669 court. He claimed that William said that [he had heard a story that] Martin's wife had a child at Captain Wiggen's and was wringing its neck in the stable when a man entered. William said that she threatened to kill the man if he told what he saw. The court sided with the plaintiff and ordered William to pay 1/8 of penny in damages. [7]
On 12 April 1670 William Sargeant and his wife Mary sentenced to be whipped ten stripes or pay a fine for fornication. [13]
vi. Elizabeth Sergeant was born on 22: 9m: 1648 in Salisbury. She married Samuel Colby.
vii. Sarah Sargeant was born on 29: 12m: 1651 in Salisbury. [11] She married Orlando Bagley on 22 December 1681 in Amesbury. [3] Orlando was probably the son of Orlando Bagley and Sarah Colby. [14]
References:
1. Walter Goodwin Davis, The Ancestry of Dudley Wildes 1759–1820 of Topsfield, Massachusetts (Portland, ME: The Anthoensen Press, 1959), 81–90.
2. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1630, Vols. I–III," database with images, AmericanAncestors, pp. 1431–2.
3. Vital Records of Amesbury, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849 (Topsfield: Topsfield Historical Society, 1913), 466–76.
4. David W. Hoyt, The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts (Providence: Snow and Farnum, 1897): 11, 13.
5. George Francis Dow, Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, digitized volumes (Salem Witch Project: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project : http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Essex/index.html), 1:223.
6. Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 1:251; 2:377; 4: 128, 235.
7. Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 4:129.
8. "Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638–1881," database with images, AmericanAncestors, 24708.
9. Vital Records of Salisbury, 614.
10. Hoyt, Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, 311.
11. Vital Records of Salisbury, 213–4.
12. Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 4:24, 64.
13. Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 4:237
14. James Savage, Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, vol. 1 (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1860), 93.
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18-May-2023