Frederic Sergeant

Jeanette Ames Rice (Sergeant) mentioned her brother Frederic Sergeant several times in her 1883 memoir "Tales That Have the Rime of Age." Jeanette noted that at the time of Mary Ann Newbury (Sergeant)'s wedding to Rev. Samuel Newbury on April 24, 1832:

"There are always some unusually comical things happening in connection with almost every event, and this was no exception. Mr. Newbury was to preach for Dr. Hyde the last Sunday before his marriage. Of course, his affianced wished to hear him and know what kind of preaching she was to listen to the remainder of her life. It so happened that the Sunday night before there was a heavy fall of snow, the last of the season. We lived three quarters of a mile from the church, so as usual, Sunday morning the horse and sleigh were brought to the door in good season. Brother Frederic stepped in the house to say he was ready, when Fox, the old family horse thought it was time for him to be off to meeting. When the prospective bride and her brother came to the door, Fox was already off several rods from the house with the empty sleigh. He kept on regularly, drew up before the front door of the Meeting House, waited long enough for persons to alight, then turned carefully about and took his accustomed place in a shed near the church. The people standing about all wondered what had happened, but finally saw brother and sister wading through the snow to meeting, when the mystery was explained. As it was the first and only time the old horse had behaved in this manner, we supposed that he comprehended the importance of the occasion and wished to play a practical joke, which it surely was."

And at the end of the wedding festivities, "After an hour pleasantly spent, cake and wine being served, as was the custom upon wedding occasions, the goodbyes were spoken. Then the bride and groom, accompanied by sister Elizabeth and brother Frederic, took their carriage to drive to Hudson, New York, forty miles away, to take a boat to New York City. The next morning the final sad leave taking between the brothers and sisters took place — Elizabeth and Frederic returning to the now desolate home among the Berkshire Hills, the young couple going for a brief visit to New York, with the many relatives there."

The newlyweds continued on this trip, eventually settling in Ohio. In later years they moved again and again, to various towns in Indiana, Michigan, and Iowa.

Jeanette reported (p. 31) that by 1835, "My two brothers obtained good business positions, brother Frederic in Lafayette, Indiana, and William in Logansport, both in the dry goods business, where each remained until his death some years later. They were good businessmen, pure and upright, each dying respected and beloved in his early manhood."

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Although Jeanette universally spells her brother's name Frederic, his great-uncle, Oliver Partridge, MD (1751-1848) spelled his name "Frederick." (See these letters among the media posted to this profile.) Oliver was in his 80s at the time, however, and, although well read, was a chronically poor speller.

Source: Michael Reid Delahunt, 2011

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