This article is a continuation of the history of the Pauch Farm in Delaware Township, first owned by Richard Bull in 1702, then by Samuel Green, then by Green’s son Richard, and now Richard’s granddaughter Sarah and her husband Charles Sergeant in 1794.  Ninety-two years in the same family, and counting.

Charles Sergeant was born in 1760 to Joseph Sergeant and (probably) Mary/Marie Loman. According to local historian Jonathan M. Hoppock, Sergeant went to war in 1776 when he was only 15.1 Hoppock wrote that Sergeant “responded to his country’s call” and signed up with the Amwell militia.

He “was with the army of Washington during the entire struggle, suffering the hardships of the bare-footed march through his native State during the Winter of ’76; the starving and misery incident to the encampment at Valley Forge; participating in the numerous engagements, but living to see the close of the war at Yorktown in ’81 . . .  Many incidents relative to this grand old war were remembered and told by the old hero on his return, the recital of which would fill too much space in this sketch. Notably among them were conversations held at different times with General Daniel Morgan.”

It is difficult to hear about tales told by a Revolutionary War veteran that were not written down by any of his listeners, including J. M. Hoppock. But even worse, I cannot document Sergeant’s military career, which is surprising for someone who spent the duration of the war with Washington’s army. First of all, neither he nor his widow applied for a pension. Secondly, I have been unable to find him in the compendium of Officers and Men compiled by Wm. Stryker, which seems rather suspicious. Snell’s History of Hunterdon County also has no record of his military career. Also curious is the fact that in 1826, some seven years before Sergeant died, a grand celebration took place on the 50th anniversary of the Revolution. The Hunterdon Gazette named the surviving veterans who took part in the parade, but did not name Charles Sergeant.

At this point, I can only conclude that there were probably many people who participated in the Revolution, but whose names were simply not recorded, most likely those who joined at a very young age. It’s hard to believe there was not some sort of military record for him. He must have been a vivid storyteller, and might have based his stories on real experiences. Hoppock was born after Charles Sergeant died; he probably learned these stories from Sergeant’s son Green Sergeant.

The Sergeant Ancestry (or Lack Thereof)

Hiram Deats researched this family and came up with a pedigree that links Charles Sergeant with the early New England family, starting with the immigrant Jonathan Sergeant who appeared in New Haven in 1643.2  The trouble is, the dates for his descendants don’t mesh properly with Charles Sergeant’s father, and it appears that no one has been able to clearly establish the link that Deats suggested. We do know that Charles Sergeant was the son of Joseph Sergeant, and that his mother was probably named Marie Loman. His grandfather might have been Joseph Sergeant who died in Bethlehem Twp. in 1747.3 But since he died intestate, we have little to go on. This estate was administered by Benjamin Smith and Job Warford, both of Amwell, witnessed by Faith Chapman and Olive Smith. There was no reference to a widow or to children. He may have been the Joseph Sergeant who was listed as a taxpayer in Upper Freehold, Monmouth County in 1731.

Another Joseph Sargent died about 1808 in Tewksbury Township, also intestate. We learn the name of his widow from a quit claim deed dated March 20, 1810, when “Catharin Sargent,” widow of Joseph Sargent late of Hunterdon County dec’d, signed her mark to a deed conveying all her dower rights in any property belonging to her husband for $40. The purchasers were Joshua Farley, Oliver H. Ogden and Jacob Kline Jr. as tenants in common, and not as joint tenants.4 The deed was witnessed by Peter Flomerfelt and Adam Potter. The purchasers and witnesses were all Tewksbury residents. Could this have been the father of Charles Sergeant? Only if his mother Marie Loman had died and been replaced by a second wife named Catharine.

There is one hint that Joseph Sergeant was connected somehow with Jonathan Sergeant: In the Kingwood Presbyterian Church cemetery there is a grave for Johnathan Sergeant and one for Joseph Sergeant. If the gravestones once had dates, they no longer do so. There is one other Sergeant grave in the cemetery, belonging to William Sergeant, who died on January 5, 1861.5

Joseph Sergeant Sr.

Joseph Sergeant, father of Charles Sergeant, was probably born around 1735. We know he was the father because of an estate record that was not recorded until 1828 involving a division of his estate (more on that later). And we know his wife’s name was Mary, because she was identified in a mortgage of 1773.6

As I have noted, the origins of Joseph and Mary Sergeant are in question. One claim is that he and his wife came to America from Germany, bringing their children with them, which means they had to have arrived shortly before the beginning of the Revolution, since the children were born during the 1760s.7 But Sergeant certainly does not sound like a German name, and I have never seen Joseph’s name spelled Josef, as it would be if he were German. The more likely heritage is English, as Hiram Deats suspected. But proving that seems to be nearly impossible. (Hope springs eternal—someday the connection with Jonathan Sergeant may be found.)

The earliest record I have found of Joseph Sergeant was the purchase on May 1, 1765 of a half-acre lot in Amwell, which he already had the use of. It was located on the “grate road” and bordered land John of Opdycke. This was at the northwest corner of Sergeantsville, the location of the old blacksmith shop. Sergeant purchased the lot from Elizabeth Kitchen, widow of James Kitchen dec’d for £5.8 This appears to destroy the theory of the Sergeant family arriving here from Germany with their children in tow. It is more likely that Joseph and Marie Sergeant began raising their family at this location in Sergeantsville, which was at that time only a crossroads. It probably did not acquire a name until after the Revolution when it became known as Skunktown; it did not become Sergeantsville until 1827.

The next appearance in the records for Joseph Sergeant is on April 30, 1767, when he witnessed a mortgage by James Kitchen to John Mullinor for land in Bethlehem twp. Other witnesses were John Buchanan and Agesilaus Gordon.9 Then, four years after purchasing it, John Sergeant, blacksmith of Amwell, and Maria his wife, sold their half-acre lot to John Yawger for £69.10 Yawger was also identified as a blacksmith, but how long he kept this lot I cannot say. He may have sold it back to Joseph Sergeant later on.

The five children born to Joseph and Marie Sergeant were:
1)  Charles Sergeant, March 30, 1760 – April 13, 1833, married Sarah Green
2) Loman Sergeant, Nov. 29, 1763 – April 21, 1852, married Lydia Wolverton
3) Mary Sergeant, abt 1765 – April 15, 1813, married Cornelius Lake
4) John Sergeant, abt 1766 – after 1829, married Sarah ‘Sally’ Kugler
5) Joseph Sergeant, 1769 – after 1840, married Jane Quick

Sometime close to 1773, Joseph Sergeant bought a one-acre lot in the same vicinity as the lot sold to John Yawger from Franklin Gordon. It was part of Dr. John Lewis’ 200 acres. Gordon had just bought the land from the auditors of John Lewis Jr. It is possible that Sergeant had been renting the lot and decided now was a good time to buy it. He needed a mortgage to make the purchase, which he got from John Opdycke.11 This was the blacksmith lot. There is still a blacksmith shop there (now converted to offices of WDVR), although it was not built until the early 19th century, probably replacing the building used by Joseph Sergeant.

During the Revolution, while son Charles was out fighting, Joseph Sergeant was taxed as a householder with a house lot, and one horse, 3 cows and one pig. This was in 1780. By 1786, Charles was back home, still a single man, living with his parents on that house lot. After this time, I lose track of Joseph Sergeant. There was a man of that name sued in the NJ Supreme Court in 1806 by Isaac Farley, but that had to be the Joseph Sargent of Tewksbury.12

Division of Joseph Sergeant Sr.’s Estate

During the May 1828 term of the Court of Common Pleas, a petition was submitted by some of Joseph Sergeant’s heirs asking for a division of his real estate and appointment of commissioners for that purpose. The heirs listed were Anne (Sergeant) Thatcher and her husband Jonas Thatcher, and Sargeant Lake and Cornelius Lake, representatives of Mary Lake dec’d. The petition stated that “Joseph Sargeant the Elder” had the following children: daughter Mary, wife of Cornelius Lake (children named above), and sons Charles, Loman, Joseph and John. Mary died on April 15, 1813. Her husband Cornelius Lake was still alive when this petition was made, but he did not join it.13

What is puzzling about this is that the children of Mary Sergeant Lake were the only heirs named in the petition. Joseph Sergeant had many more heirs than these three. Son Charles had at least five children, son Loman had six, son Joseph had six. (Son John may not have married.) That gives us 17 grandchildren in addition to Mary’s children. Odd. Perhaps this was simply a quarrel over daughter Mary’s share of the estate.

The Sergeants Move to the Pauch Farm

As mentioned previously, Charles Sergeant was 28 years old and Sarah Green was 22 when they married on June 21, 1788. They probably began their married life at the blacksmith lot in Sergeantsville, because in 1790, Charles Sergeant was taxed on his father’s one-acre lot. Their first known child was not born until 1793, which is a delay of 5 years. Perhaps their first children died in infancy, as so often happened in those days.

From subsequent records, it appears that prior to the death of Richard Green in 1794, Charles and Sarah Sergeant moved to the Green farm, although not all of the records regarding this property confirm this idea.

A Road Record of 1795

On February 2, 1795, some neighbors of Richard Green petitioned to have an existing road moved. Here is an abstract of their petition, made by Phyllis D’Autrechy:

“Petition that showed that a road laid out from Howell’s Ferry leading to the New Meeting House in Amwell [in Mt. Airy] where said road leaves the Flemington Road [Rte 523] and lying on the lands of Daniel Ent and Capt’n Peter Ent and Daniel Butterfoss, is through a flat and wet piece of land that makes it very ‘miery’ and bad passing and also it being near the out side of their cleared land where there may be a good dry road laid which will be much better for the publick to travel. Petition requests that the road be altered and laid out as a two rod road from the said Flemington Road to a sand hole near a road crossing from Green’s Plantation and from thence to where it will join the old road.”14

From best I can tell, this became Sandy Ridge Road, running from Route 523 to the church. Exactly where the original road ran is hard to say. Richard Green’s “plantation” lay a short distance north of the properties belonging to the Ents and to Daniel Butterfoss. Surprisingly, neither Samuel Green nor Charles Sergeant were among the petitioners.

Sarah Green Sergeant’s Father, Samuel Green

Samuel Green, father of Sarah Green Sergeant and son of Richard Green Sr., lived on his farm in Rosemont with wife Elizabeth Waterhouse and their four children. When his father Richard Green died in 1794, the farm on Route 523 was still home to his widow Elizabeth Wolverton Green. Samuel Green did not leave his Rosemont farm, but  after his father’s death, he must have acquired his siblings’ rights to old Green farm. The reason to think so comes from his own will, dated January 28, 1797, and from a mortgage he got in May 1797.

First the will.  To his wife Elizabeth he left £380 and personal property. His home farm in Rosemont of 164 acres he left to his son Richard. After some other bequests, he left the residue of his estate to his three surviving daughters, including daughter Sarah, wife of Charles Sergeant. One of those other bequests was £10 to each of three grandsons, one of whom was “Green Sergeant.” Charles Sergeant was named executor along with son Richard and the other son-in-law John Hoagland. The other sisters were Margaret, wife of John Hoagland, and ‘Marcy’ who seems to have remained a spinster.

As one of the heirs of Richard Green Sr., Samuel was entitled to a 1/5th share of two thirds of the estate. That is because under the laws of New Jersey, when a person died without a will, as Richard Green did, a third of the estate went to the widow, and the remaining two thirds was divided among the children, usually 2 shares to each son and 1 share to each daughter. Eventually, Samuel Green acquired full ownership of the property, but not by recorded deeds. Instead he made a curious provision in a mortgage to his son-in-law Charles Sergeant.

The Mortgage:  On May 2, 1797, Samuel Green gave Charles and Sarah Sergeant a mortgage on 232 acres on the road to Howell’s Ferry for £1200. The property bordered “Wilson’s line” and “Ent’s line, and also land of John Severns,” which identifies it as the old farm of Richard Green. Since the Sergeants were mortgaging the property to Samuel Green, they had to have acquired title to it, even though there is no recorded deed for the transaction.

There were unusual stipulations in the mortgage for repayment. The mortgage was “payable in four bonds of £100 each to the said Sarah Gans [Gano],” and £50 each to John Holcomb, Henry Waterhouse, Joshua Waterhouse yearly, the total to be paid by May 1, 1801. Sarah Gano was Samuel Green’s sister, wife of William Gano. John Holcombe was married to Samuel’s sister Mary. Henry Waterhouse married Samuel’s sister Elizabeth. Joshua Waterhouse was Samuel’s nephew, son of his sister Margaret and her husband Ambrose Waterhouse.15 The mortgage was cancelled on February 2, 1803. So, instead of buying the shares of his siblings in their father’s estate, Samuel Green arranged for Charles Sergeant to pay them.

Evidence for this comes from a deed dated the day before Samuel Green’s mortgage. On May 1, 1797, Charles and Sarah Sergeant sold a lot of 10.5 acres to Henry Vandolah, being “part of a larger tract bought from Richard Green deceased.”16 But there is no recorded document to show who bought the farm of Richard Green deceased. However, Henry Vandolah did border the original Green farm.

It appears that at some time after 1790 and before 1797, Charles and Sarah Sergeant moved to the Richard Green farm, and eventually purchased it from either Richard Green before his death or from Richard’s son Samuel. By 1797, Charles and Sarah Sergeant had been married for 11 years and had only two children: Elizabeth, born January 9, 1793, and Richard Green Sergeant, born March 14, 1795. As discussed in a previous post (Richard Green and Elizabeth Wolverton), the house appears to have been built in the 1790s. The mortgage of 1797 might have satisfied two purposes—to compensate the siblings of Samuel Green and to provide Charles Sergeant with some funds with which to build his fine stone house on the Pauch farm.

By the time that Richard Green died in 1794, Charles Sergeant was established enough to be given a role in administration of Green’s estate, and yet, he was not. I think the reason was that he was planning to purchase the property, which he could not do as administrator. There are many cases in which an administrator or executor wants to acquire the real estate of the deceased, but legally cannot while acting as administrator or executor. To get around the restriction, the property is sold to a third party who then sells it back to the executor or administrator. In this case, Charles Sergeant avoided that problem by declining to administer Green’s estate.

Samuel Green died about April 1799, when an inventory of his estate was made by George Duckworth and John Woolverton. It totaled £733. The will was recorded on April 24, 1799 after one of the executors, son Richard Green Jr., declined to act. The second executor, Charles Sergeant, must have also declined because on May 3, 1804 when an account of the estate was recorded, it was submitted by John Hoagland as sole executor.17

The Will of Elizabeth, widow of Richard Green Sr.

Sarah Sergeant’s grandmother, Elizabeth Green, widow of Richard Green, wrote her will on May 1, 1805, while living in Kingwood Township.18 She was probably staying with her daughter Elizabeth, wife of Henry Waterhouse, or her daughter Margaret, wife of Ambrose Waterhouse. In her will, Elizabeth Green left an 8-day clock and brass kettle to her daughter Elizabeth Waterhouse, and a warming pan to daughter Mary Holcombe.

She also named her grandchildren: Stephen Gano, Richard Gano, Joshua Waterhouse, Richard Green and Richard Holcombe, giving them each £3. Another grandson, Richard Waterhouse, would get her desk if he were to return to New Jersey. Apparently he had moved west. If he did not return, the desk, along with her large Bible, went to grandson John Waterhouse (son of Henry & Elizabeth Waterhouse). Granddaughter Margaret Holcomb got her large looking glass, while grandson Daniel Holcomb got a large chest. Margaret and Daniel were children of Mary and John Holcombe. The other grandchildren were daughters of Sarah Gano, i.e., Elizabeth Gulic, Franky Thompson and Mary Gulic. They were to get the residue of the estate, which was valued at $841 when the inventory was taken on August 8, 1807.

There was a significant omission in this will—no mention of granddaughter Sarah Sergeant, or any of the other children of Elizabeth’s now-deceased son Samuel Green. Perhaps this was because they were already well off, or perhaps there was some kind of estrangement. Here’s a theory—in 1805, Charles Sergeant sold the Green farm to a non-relative, John R. Opdycke. Perhaps Elizabeth Green disapproved of this, because she was obliged to move in with one of her Kingwood daughters. Elizabeth Wolverton Green died on July 20, 1807.

The  Family of Charles and Sarah Sergeant

Charles and Sarah Sergeant had five children altogether. Their dates come from a bible copied by Hiram Deats and inscribed by Charles Sergeant thus: “Thanks be to God for the Opportunity I have a seting down our names with my own hand in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred, March 9th. C. Sergeant.”

i. Elizabeth Sergeant, born January 9, 1793, died January 18, 1873, age 80; married William Reading

ii. Richard Green Sergeant, born March 14, 1795, died August 7, 1878, age 83; married Margaret Besson

iii. Mary Ann Sergeant, born July 26, 1798, died January 23, 1853, age 54; married James P. Wolverton

iv. Permelia Sergeant, born June 9, 1800, died April 28, 1839, age 38; married Joseph Wood

v. Emma Sergeant, born August 16, 1803, died November 8, 1856, age 53; married James Larison.

Since all these children were born before 1805, we can be certain that they were all born at the Pauch farm. In 1803, Charles Sergeant was taxed on 205 acres, three horses, five head of cattle and one single man, his son Richard Green Sergeant.

During the last years of the 18th century and the early years of the 19th century, Charles Sergeant was often found helping his neighbors. He witnessed wills and deeds, and made inventories. In 1792, Charles Sergeant was listed as a member of the Amwell militia. When he was taxed in 1803, he was identified as “Capt. Charles Sergeant.” Presumably this was his office in the militia.

The Land Swap of 1805

A big change took place on April 1, 1805, when Charles Sergeant purchased the Wickecheoke farm of Samuel Opdycke deceased. He bought it from Opdycke’s son John R. Opdycke, and on the same day he and wife Sarah sold to Opdycke the farm of Richard Green on the road to Howell’s Ferry.19

The Opdycke family had long owned a farm on both sides of the Wickecheoke Creek, including the bridge, and running north from Route 604 along Pine Hill Road. As mentioned in a previous post, it was bought by John Opdycke from Edward Milner around 1750, and then given by him to his son Samuel Opdycke probably around the time Samuel married in 1775. His wife was Susannah Robeson, daughter of Joseph Robeson; they married on December 5, 1775 and had five children. When John Opdycke Sr. died in 1777, his only bequest to son Samuel was “a negro called Robbin,” a windmill and a cow. This indicates that he had already given the farm to Samuel.

Susannah Opdycke probably died around 1796 or before, as her father’s will, written that year, did not name her, but instead her husband and children. Robeson named his wife Mary and son-in-law Samuel Opdycke his executors. But when the will was recorded, on February 24, 1801, both Mary and Samuel declined to act as executors. Administration was granted to Daniel LaTourette, the husband of Samuel Opdycke’s daughter Hannah.

That year, 1801, Samuel Opdycke himself died intestate, and administration of his estate was granted to his son John. The estate was surprisingly small, with an inventory worth only $108.12, compared with Joseph Robeson’s which amounted to $6,969. It appears that Robeson had acquired an interest in the farm of Samuel Opdycke, because after his death, it was Robeson’s administrator who conveyed the farm to Samuel’s son John Robeson Opdycke in 1804.20

But John R. Opdycke did not want the property for himself. The next year he swapped properties with Charles Sergeant. On April 1, 1805, Charles Sergeant bought the Wickecheoke farm of 130 acres from John Opdycke for £2500 or £19 per acre;21 And John Opdycke bought from Charles Sergeant 180 acres on Route 523 for £2000 or £11.11 per acre. 22 The difference in value is probably due to the mill that was part of the property sold by John Opdycke. It appears that Charles Sergeant took this step because he was interested in becoming a miller.

John Opdycke was not really interested in keeping the old Green farm either. On April 29, 1806, he sold 130.25 acres out of the 180 he had bought from Charles Sergeant to Charles’ brother Joseph Sergeant, who paid $4600 for the property ($35.17 per acre).23 According to Revolutionary America, 1763-1800 by Thomas L. Purvis, in 1800, one pound (£) was the equivalent of about $4.77. This means that John Opdycke paid £11/acre the equivalent of $52.47 per acre, while Jos. Sergeant paid $35.32 per acre. So, even though $4600 sounds like a lot, it was a better price than John R. Opdycke paid. More about this in the next chapter.

 The Rest of Charles Sergeant’s Life

On February 21, 1818, Charles Sergeant and Cornelius Lake made the inventory of John Severns dec’d. He was the son of Benjamin Severns and Sarah Green, daughter of Richard Green Sr. Charles Sergeant was named a commissioner to divide Severns’ real estate along with Cornelius Lake and John Cavanagh.24

When the Sergeants moved to the Opdycke mill farm in 1805, their children ranged in age from two to twelve. Their only son, Richard Green Sergeant, was 10, and was probably being introduced to the strenuous work of running a mill and a farm. By 1825, Green Sergeant, as he was known, had probably taken over most of the work, but help was needed, so Charles Sergeant employed “a bound boy.” This was Jonathan Robbins, who was apprenticed out by his parents to work for Charles Sergeant for a period of time, to be provided room and board in exchange for work.25 Apparently Jonathan did not like the conditions he was subjected to and ran away. In May 1825, Charles Sergeant advertised in the Gazette that he was offering a reward of a whopping six cents for the return of Robbins who ran away on April 6th. And then he added this:  “I forewarn all persons harbouring him under the penalty of the law.”

It is interesting that Sergeant’s name in the above notice was spelled “Sergent.” There are many many variant spellings of this name (Sargent, Sarjent, Sergant, etc.). It seems that people spelled it the way they heard it. Charles himself signed his name as ‘Sergeant.’

One of the most bewildering and challenging items I found about Charles Sergeant involved the settlement in 1826 of the estate of Margaret Williamson Larew, daughter of William and Patience Williamson, and widow of Daniel Larew and John Hull. In testimony at a special hearing, Sergeant declared that he was the nephew of Margaret Hull.26 I have not yet succeeded in making the family connection. Apparently Sergeant’s mother, Marie Loman, was related to the Williamson, Larew or Hull families, but so far, no evidence has appeared. It would help to know who Marie’s parents and siblings were, but I have not found them. The fact that Sergeant’s Wickecheoke farm bordered the farm of William and Patience Williamson seems significant. Sergeant did not own the farm until long after William and Patience died (in 1765 and 1787 respectively), but their son Samuel Williamson was in possession until 1812. Neither of Samuel’s wives seems to have any relation to Charles Sergeant.

Another mysterious family connection was made in the notes of Hiram Deats, in which it is claimed that Charles Sergeant’s mother Marie Loman was the niece of John Opdycke. Once again, I can find no way that this could be possible. It must be that the terms ‘niece’ and ‘nephew’ were used in ways that were more inclusive than how we interpret them today.

Charles Sergeant prospered and became influential in his part of Amwell Township. In 1827 when a new post office was to be opened in Sergeantsville, the citizens gathered to decide what name to give the town, to replace the then current name of Skunktown. Apparently it was a question of whether to name it after the Thatcher family or the Sergeant family. As a reflection of the high standing of Charles Sergeant in the town, and probably recognition of the early residence there of his father Joseph, the Sergeant name won out, and Skunktown became Sergeantsville.

In 1830 a new school was established just up the road from the Sergeant farm. It is known as the Green Sergeant School, although today it is a private residence. Charles Sergeant was one of the original trustees of this school, even though by this time he was 70 years old. His son, Richard Green Sergeant also a trustee. It was almost certainly not named after Green Sergeant when it first opened, but probably took on the name before very long.

The Death and Estate of Charles Sergeant

Charles Sergeant died on April 13, 1833 at the age of 73. He died a rich man, with an inventory worth $2,160.46 and a half cent. It was appraised by neighbors Samuel Rittenhouse and John Gordon.27 Sergeant must have known his end was coming because on February 2, 1833 he wrote his will.28 He named James Wolverton, Joseph Wood, James Larison and daughter Elizabeth Reading as Executors. Wolverton, Wood and Larison were all sons-in-law, husbands of his daughters Mary Ann, Permelia and Emma.

He left his mills and farm on the Wickecheoke to son Green Sergeant. He provided for his daughter Elizabeth, widow of William Reading, and for his grandson Charles Reading, by excepting out from his farm a lot where Joseph Slack was living. This lot, which was the small stone house just west of the covered bridge, would go to daughter Elizabeth Reading during her widowhood, and then to her son Charles.

The farm of 130 acres, which he had bought back from his brother Joseph in 1818, was occupied by Jonathan Rittenhouse. The farm and adjoining woodland plus all of Sergeant’s lots in Sergeantsville and his moveable estate were to be sold and the profits divided among his heirs. This farm of 130 acres was the Pauch farm. The sale will be discussed in the next episode.

The inventory of Charles Sergeant’s estate contained notes due from several people, including  Jonathan Rittenhouse, who owed a note of $117 and another of $80. It also listed a large quantity of linens, yarn and carpeting, plus the time of “a Black boy” until he turned 21 years of age, which was valued at $75.

Charles Sergeant and wife Sarah Green, Pine Hill Cemetery.
The graves of Charles Sergeant and wife Sarah Green
at the Pine Hill Cemetery in Delaware Twp. Click to enlarge.

Charles Sergeant’s widow Sarah died on March 27, 1835, age 69. She was buried next to her husband in the Pine Hill Cemetery. A wrought iron fence was set up surrounding the two graves, no doubt by their son Green Sergeant.

Footnotes:

  1. Hoppock wrote about this in two separate articles: “Sergeant Mansion and Mill, 1745,’ published in the Democrat-Advertiser on December 5, 1901, and “The Old Sergeant Mill,” published on July 20, 1905.
  2. See Early Sargents of New England by Winthrop Sargent, privately printed, 1922.
  3. NJA #203J. By that time, Kingwood Township had been split off from Bethlehem.
  4. H.C. Deed Bk 17 p. 162. This quit claim deed did not describe the property.
  5. The Sergeant graves are published on Find-a-Grave. I checked the listing of burials in the Kingwood Presbyterian Cemetery published in the Hunterdon Historical Newsletter, vol. 9, No. 1 to vol. 11, No. 1; 1973 – 1975, but no Sergeant was listed there. Odd.
  6. H.C. Mortgage Bk 1 p. 200.
  7. Letter from Manuel L. Blackwell to H. Deats, 1935, Deats Genealogical Files, Hunterdon Co. Historical Society.
  8. HCHS, unrecorded deed. The original, unrecorded document was discovered by Jeannie Colalillo and donated to the Hunterdon Co. Historical Society.
  9. Mortgage 1-093. This James Kitchen was the son of James Kitchen Sr. who was also an early resident of the Sergeantsville neighborhood, and died probably about 1761.
  10. Unrecorded deed. Unfortunately, my notes from many years ago do not state where I got this information from; perhaps it was a reference from another deed.
  11. H.C. Mortgage 1-200.
  12. Supreme Court case #13454, NJ State Archives.
  13. Notes on the Petition were found in the Deats Genealogical Files, Sergeant folder, HCHS. The petition is not found in either Partitions in the County Clerk’s Office or in Divisions in the Surrogate’s Court. The document can be found in Record Group 164, Hunterdon Co. Archives. I have not had a chance to examine it.
  14. Phyllis D’Autrechy, Abstracts of Hunterdon County Road Record Files (1781-1969), with Index. Hunterdon Co. Cultural and Heritage Commission, 1993, p. 300; reference to Road File #20-5-37 at the County Clerk’s Office, Flemington, NJ. There was no map included with this petition.
  15. Hunterdon Co. Mortgages, Book 2 p. 222.
  16. Deed Book 13 p. 118.
  17. NJ Archives, estate No. 1874J.
  18. NJA #2250J.
  19. See Deeds 11-154; 11-412; 52-369; 57-384.
  20. H.C. Deed Book 10 p. 126.
  21. H.C. Deed Bk 11 p. 154.
  22. H.C. Deed Bk 11 p. 412.
  23. H.C. Deed 12-378.
  24. Deeds 30-68; 29-537; 29-683.
  25. I have not been able to identify this particular Jonathan Robbins, who must have been born between 1810 and 1815.
  26. H.C. Surrogate, Docket 02930.
  27. Hunterdon Surrogate’s Court, Inventory Bk 8 p. 28.
  28. NJA 4081J; Hunterdon Co. Wills, Book 6 p. 43.