John Sergeant (December 5, 1779 – November 23, 1852) was an American politician who represented

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. He was the

National Republican Party The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States which evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John ...

's vice presidential nominee in the 1832 presidential election, serving on a ticket with Senator

Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...

. After graduating from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, Sergeant served in the Philadelphia government and won election to the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

. As a member of the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservativeMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * and nationalist American political party and the first political party in the United States. It dominated the national government under Alexander Hamilton from 17 ...

, he won election to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1815 to 1823. In Congress, he supported Clay's American System and opposed the extension of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, voting against the

Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise (also known as the Compromise of 1820) was federal legislation of the United States that balanced the desires of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand ...

. After serving as president of the Pennsylvania Board of Canal Commissioners, Sergeant returned to Congress in 1827. He lost his 1829 re-election campaign and became a legal counsel for the

Second Bank of the United States The Second Bank of the United States was the second federally authorized Second Report on Public Credit, Hamiltonian national bank in the United States. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the bank was chartered from February 1816 to January ...

. In the 1832 presidential election, the ticket of Clay and Sergeant was soundly defeated by the Democratic ticket of

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

and

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

. After the election, Sergeant joined the Whig Party and again returned to Congress, serving from 1837 to 1841. He was also the president of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention in 1838. He retired from public office in 1841 and resumed his law practice.

Early life and education

Sergeant was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

on December 5, 1779. He was a son of Margaret (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Spencer) Sergeant and Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, a lawyer who represented New Jersey in the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

and served as the

Pennsylvania Attorney General The Pennsylvania attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current attorney general is Republican Dave Sunday (politician), Dave ...

. His brother Thomas Sergeant, served as Pennsylvania Secretary of State, Attorney General and on the

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Judiciary of Pennsylvania, Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as ...

. Sergeant was educated in the common schools and at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

at Philadelphia. He graduated from Princeton College in 1795. He became a lawyer and, after being admitted to the bar in 1799, practiced law for fifty years, including "as extensive a practice as any one before the Supreme Court".The Late Honorable John Sergeant
, ''American Law Register'' (February 1853), p. 196.

Career

In 1800, Sergeant became deputy

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

for Philadelphia and then commissioner of bankruptcy for Pennsylvania the following year. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from 1808 to 1810. He was elected as a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

to the United States House of Representatives to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Jonathan Williams. He was re-elected three times, serving from October 10, 1815, to March 3, 1823, and managed to reach the position of chairman of the

United States House Committee on the Judiciary The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, f ...

. Sergeant was a strong backer of

's American System and the

in Congress, and even traveled to Europe to negotiate loans to the bank. He was also a strong opponent of slavery who voted against the

. He then retired, albeit temporarily, from Congress. In 1813, Sergeant was elected a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. In 1825, he was president of the Pennsylvania Board of Canal Commissioners. The following year, he was an envoy to the Panama Congress of 1826 but arrived after the Congress had concluded its discussions. He returned to the U.S. House of Representatives for the term starting March 4, 1827. He failed re-election to the following term and left Congress for the second time on March 3, 1829. He then became legal counsel to the Bank of the United States.

Vice presidential candidate

Sergeant was Henry Clay's running mate on the National Republican ticket during the 1832 presidential election but lost to

and

in a landslide and again retreated from public life. After his vice presidential candidacy, he returned as president of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention in 1838, and then was elected as a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives. He served this last time from March 4, 1837, until he resigned on September 15, 1841, and again was chair of the Committee on the Judiciary for the 1837 – 1839 term. He returned to his law practice, declining offers of a cabinet or diplomatic position from the new Whig administration. In

1844 In the Philippines, 1844 had only 365 days, when Tuesday, December 31 was skipped as Monday, December 30 was immediately followed by Wednesday, January 1, 1845, the next day after. The change also applied to Caroline Islands, Guam, Marian ...

he was considered for the Whig vice presidential nomination, to once again run with Clay, but the convention eventually selected

Theodore Frelinghuysen Theodore Frelinghuysen (March 28, 1787April 12, 1862) was an American politician who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate. He was the Whig vice presidential nominee in the election of 1844, running on a ticket with Henry Clay. ...

. That same year, President Tyler offered to appoint Sergeant to a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States, which Sergeant declined, citing his age.

Personal life

On June 23, 1813, he married Margaretta Watmough, daughter of James Horatio Watmough and Anna (née Carmick) Watmough. With Margaretta he fathered ten children, all but one surviving infancy. Among his children were: * Margaretta Sergeant (1814–1886), who married Major General

George Meade George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 – November 6, 1872) was an American military officer who served in the United States Army and the Union army as Major General in command of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War from 1 ...

, Commander of the Union

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the Battle of ...

from the Battle of Gettysburg until the end of the Civil War. * Sarah Sergeant (1817–1850), who married Henry A. Wise, the 33rd

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...

. * Katherine Sergeant (1825–1910), who married Harry Augustus Cram (parents of John Sergeant Cram). * William Sergeant (1829–1865), who served in the Civil War and was mortally wounded at the Battle of White Oak Road. Sergeant died in Philadelphia on November 23, 1852, and was interred at

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery, also called Laurel Hill East to distinguish it from the affiliated West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Bala Cynwyd, is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls, Philadelphia, East Falls neighborhood ...

Section L, Lots 1–7.

Descendants

His grandsons, John Sergeant Wise, John Sergeant Cram, and Richard Alsop Wise, as well as his great-grandson, John Crain Kunkel, were also prominent in politics.

References

External links

Grave
, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sergeant, John 1779 births 1832 United States vice-presidential candidates 1852 deaths Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives Pennsylvania Federalists Pennsylvania National Republicans Politicians from Philadelphia Princeton University alumni Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century people from Pennsylvania 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives Members of the American Philosophical Society