Peter Sargeant

From Wikipedia

Peter Sergeant (died 1714) was a merchant in Boston, Massachusetts, United States in the late 17th and early 18th century. Born in England, he moved to Boston and prospered as a merchant. He served as town constable in 1674, and as a Councillor 1692–1703 and 1707–1714. He was a member of the Third Church congregation[1] attending services at the Cedar House and later at the Old South Meeting House. He was also associated with the New England Company. During the 1689 Boston revolt, he participated in the Committee of Safety that ousted governor Edmund Andros.[2] In 1679, Sergeant built a large house on old Marlborough Street, and lived there for most of the rest of his life. He left briefly 1699–ca.1700, in order to accommodate royal governor Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont. (After 1716 the Sergeant House was known as the Province House).[3]

Sergeant married four times:

1. to Elizabeth Corwin;
2. to Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Shrimpton (1682–1700);
3. to Mary Phips (1701–1706); and
4. to Mehitable Cooper (1706–1714).[4][5]

His funeral was held on February 13, 1714; he is buried in the Granary Burying Ground.

from Early Sargents of New England By Winthrop Sargent, page 15:

Peter Sergeant of Boston

PETER SERGEANT came from London, England, in 1667, an "opulent merchant," was chosen one of the Committee of Safety at Boston upon the overthrow of Governor Andros, a Member of the Governor's Council, one of the Judges of the Court of Oyer and Terminer for the trial of witches in 1692. His. first wife was Anne Shrimpton, his second wife Lady Mary, whom he married Oct. 9, 1701, widow of Gov. William Phipps of Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Roger Spencer of Maine (Spencer, Mass. derived its name from this family). His third wife was Mehitabel, widow of Thomas Cooper and daughter of James Minot.

Peter Sergeant died Oct. 8, 1714 and left no children.

He built a mansion in Marlboro, which was a part of Boston, one of the most costly of the time. The bricks were imported from England. It was three stories in height with a cupola, the whole surmounted by the figure of an Indian Chief with drawn bow and arrow. The letters and figures 16 P. S. 79 were wrought in the iron work of the balcony. The house was situated near Washington Street, opposite the old South Church. It was sold Dec. 17, 1715 for two thousand three hundred pounds sterling, to the City of Boston and was used during the Provincial Government by the Governor. It was burnt Oct. 25, 1860 (?). Peter Sergeant used the Sargent Arms as found in documents at Salem, Mass., also impaled them with the "Shrimpton" and "Spencer" Arms, and this must have been about 1667-8.

In Drake's history of Boston 1630-1770 there is shown an impression from an original signature and he signs and spells his name— "Peter Sergeant"

He was evidently a man of importance, for we find him mentioned in important matters of State, and associated with Gov. Stoughton, Natt. Saltonstall, the Winthrops, Jonathan Corwin, etc.

From A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those who Came Before May, 1962, on the Basis of Farmer's Register ... (Google eBook) James Savage, Orrando Perry Dexter Little, Brown, 1862 - New England. Page 18:

Peter Sergeant, Boston, merch. came, 1667, from London, was a strenuous oppon. of Andros, and chos. on his overthrow, to be one of the com’tee of safety, freem. 1690, was nam. of the counc. in the new chart. IIis w. whose name I hear not, (1. 10 Nov. 1700, and he m. 9 Oct. foll. Mary, the wid. of Sir William Phips, wh. first was wid. of John Hall, and d. of capt. Roger Spencer. Next, he m. 19 Dec. 1706, Mehitablc, wid. of Thomas Cooper, d. of James Minot, and d. 8, was bur. 13 Feb. 1714. His will, of 17 Jan. preced. ment. dec. brs. Joseph, and Henry, two surv. sis. besic e nephs. and nieces of dec. hrs. and sis. but no ch. nor do I find that he ever had one. His wid. m. 12 May 1715, Simeon Stoddard.

From A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience. Emerson W. Baker. Oxford University Press, Oct 6, 2014 - History - 384 pages. Page 165

Born in London in 1647, Sergeant was a member of a wealthy and influential clan of Puritan merchants. His first cousins, the brothers Sir William and Henry Ashurst, were members of Parliament and aldermen of London .... Brother in law of Samuel Shrimpton, one of the holders of the Million Acre Purchase. ...

will

January 17, 1713/14;  Will written. PROBATE February 19, 1713/14 Peter Sargeant (merchant): Ex.: nephew Thomas Sargeant. Legatees: wife Mehitable, the South Church, Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, and Joseph Sewall, pastor of the church, to the other ministers Increase & Cotton Mather, Thomas Bridge, Benjamin Wadsworth and Benjamin Colman, to Eliakim Hutchinson, my brother in law, & his wife Sarah, and to their children William Hutchinson & wife, Thomas Palmer & wife, Spencer Phipps & wife. My wife's kinswoman Mrs. Hannah Ellis. To Abigail Bourne of London sister of my second wife, to Thomas Sergeant, nephew, son of my brother Henry Sergeant, my two surviving sisters and the children of my deceased brothers & sisters the balance of my real estate including a house and land in Boston. Inventory 560 pounds, 13 shillings, 4 pence. (SPR 18:249). (Thwing database)

• Diary of Samuel Sewell. May, 26 [1714]. "Election-day. Three chosen in the room of Peter Sergeant esqr, deceased, (1) Major Wm Brown .... " (1) This reference to Peter Sergeant will serve as a pretext to correct an error in a note in Vol. II. p. 174. Mr. H. F. Waters informs us that Sergeant had four wives, as appears by the following item in his will: "I give and bequeath to my much Respected and Kind Brother and Sister-in-Law, Eliakim Hutchinson, esq! and Sarah his wife, and to their children, viz. Messrs. William Hutchinson and wife and Thomas Palmer and wife and Spencer Phipps and wife, £10 each, amounting in the whole to £80 to buy them mourning." "I give and bequeath to the aforesaid Mrs. Sarah Hutchinson and the two children of Mrs. Abigail Bourne of London dec*, sisters to Elizabeth my second wife"... £200. This wife was therefore Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Shrimpton, and this confirms our note (Vol. II. p. 203) in regard to Spencer Phips's wife. Mr. Waters adds that Sergeant's first wife was clearly a daughter of Capt. George Corwin (see New England Hist. Gen. Register, Vol. XXVIII. p. 200), as is shown by a letter of Corwin in the American Antiquarian Society Library, dated May, 1683. Mr. Waters suggests that she was named Elizabeth, and is probably mentioned by Sewall (Vol. II. Preface, p. 13*), as follows: 1681, Dec. 23, "two of the chief Gentlewomen in Town dyed, — viz. Mrs. Mary Davis and Mrs Eliza. Sargent." His third wife was Lady Mary Phips, and his fourth, Mrs. Mehitable Cooper. — Eds.
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~walkersj/MarySpencer.htm