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Second Generation
3. William Matthew
Sargent was born on 28 Sep 1833 in Saint Clair County, Illinois.1,6
He appeared in the census in 1840 in Saint Clair County, Illinois.4 He died from typhoid on 15 Mar 1870 in Saint Clair County,
Illinois.1 He was buried
on 17 Mar 1870 in Squire Hill (Rittinghouse) Cemetery, Prairie du Long Township,
St. Clair County, Illinois. He was a farmer. William
Matthew Sargent and Nancy Caroline Hill were married on 3 Mar 1852 in Saint Clair
County, Illinois.6 Both William
and Nancy died within a day of one another from typhoid fever contracted from
contaminated water flowing from the town of Belleville, Illinois to the farm
in which they lived.
At the time of their death the children were Thomas 18, Elizabeth 13, George
11, and Harriet 9.
The following is from obituaries pasted in a book containing the church records
of the Risdon Baptist Church of Christ. The names of the newspapers were not
included, however, they could have been from Sparta, Freeburg, and the other
papers in the St. Clair and northern Randolph County areas.
Departed this life, on the 15th March at 3 o'clock P.M. at his residence, WILLIAM
SARGENT, by occupation, a farmer of South Twelve Mile Prairie, St. Clair County,
aged 37 years. Also, NANCY CAROLINE, wife of William Sargent, aged 36, passed
into the spirit world on the 16th, at 7 o'clock P.M. Their mortal remains were
carried to their last resting place, in the same grave, on the 17th. This sad
bereavement hath deprived seven children-one an infant only three months old,
of that care and protection so necessary to their right training, and future
well being and happiness.
Mr. Sargent was a man of most excellent natural abilities, with a mind well improved,
and possessed of no ordinary degree of information. Comparatively a young man,
the inheritor of no fortune, yet he was so industrious and frugal that he had,
by his own talent and force of character, acquired a handsome property. He was
a kind husband, an intelligent and affectionate father, ever ready to help the
needy to the best of his ability, and fearless in the defence of right. Always
rational, he never failed to advance his opinions, in strict accord with the
rules of right reason. Not at all given to bigotry, he would immediately abandon
error so soon as his judgement decided it to be such. He was a lively and pleasant
companion, a faithful friend and kind neighbor. It has been the good fortune
of the writer of these lines to often meet with our departed friend; and whether
it were upon the public highway, amid the throng of city thoroughfare, or, at
our little debates in the district school house, yet there were ever present
in every word, look and gesture, the evidences of a kind and sympathetic heart,
a benevolent soul, and a spirit governed by hightoned magnanimity. I could mention
specific acts of our departed friend, if time would permit, which would go to
prove the presence of those exalted virtures, but it is not necessary.
Mrs. Sargent was the daughter of Henry Hill, Esq., an old resident of South Twelve
Mile Prairie. She was an intelligent and affectionate mother and wife. So completely
wrapped in her affections was her husband, that, notwithstanding she did not
appear to be suffering, (from the same disease of which they both died) so much
as to cause alarm--besides the disease was not manifest in her case till two
days after her husband had taken ill--yet, when she learned the awful truth that
her husband was dying, she uttered a cry of lamentation and began to sink into
the slumbers of mortal repose. Never did two Persons pass away so quietly, without
a struggle or any apparent pain. Their like we shall never again behold on earth.
May their dear orphan children never forget to immitate their example, and love
and cherish them in their memories. Peace to their ashes; and may their souls
bask forever in the
realms of eternal felicity, is the prayer of a friend who knew them well. S.
Nancy Caroline Hill (daughter of Henry B Hill and
Sarah Lamastess) was born on 28 Apr 1834 in Saint Clair County, Illinois.1,9
She died from typhoid on 16 Mar 1870 in Saint Clair County, Illinois.1 She was buried on 17 Mar 1870 in
Squire Hill (Rittinghouse) Cemetery, Prairie du Long Township, St. Clair County,
Illinois.9 William Matthew
Sargent and Nancy Caroline Hill had the following children:
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