John Sergeant (Missionary)

John Sergeant (* 1710 in Newark , New Jersey , † July 27, 1749 in Stockbridge ) was a missionary in Stockbridge, Massachusetts , who converted the Indians living there to Christianity . Sergeant was a Puritan , the ruling religious community in New England in the 18th century .

Early years

He was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Jonathan Sergeant and his wife Mary. The father died early and Colonel John Cooper, his stepfather, took on the upbringing of young John. John's left hand was injured in an accident and so he decided to pursue an academic career rather than become a squire like his father and stepfather. He graduated from Yale in 1729 as the best and was appointed lecturer in 1731 . He then studied theology and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1732 .

The missionary

In 1734, the Massachusetts Bay Company sent two delegates to the Housatonic to negotiate the establishment of a mission in their residential area. The Indians agreed, and Massachusetts offered the missionary position to John Sergeant, who had previously expressed an interest. In October 1734, Sergeant made a first visit to the Housatonic and arranged with them to build a house that would serve as both a school and a church. On his return to New Haven he brought two Indian boys with him, whom he taught English and they taught him their language. In July 1735 he finally joined the Housatonic and spent the rest of his life with the Indians.

His work was very successful and within a short time he was able to baptize forty Indians. Sergeant soon mastered the Housatonic language and was able to translate parts of the Old and New Testaments , some prayers, and Isaac Watts ' short catechism .

In Stockbridge

The Stockbridge Mission Building circa 1908

In 1736 the Massachusetts government gave around 15 km² of land near what is now Stockbridge to the Housatonic. Sergeant and schoolmaster Timothy Woodbridge were each given a sixtieth part of this land to use. Four carefully selected English families were chosen to support the missionary in his work and to instruct the Indians in English manners and customs. A meeting house and school building were soon built. Some of the Indians, however, continued their traditional way of life, went hunting and made maple sugar. Many Indian girls preferred to stay with their families and refused to receive an English education. The growing alcohol abuse was also a major problem for Sergeant.

In 1739 Sergeant married Abigail Williams, the nineteen-year-old daughter of Ephraim Williams of Stockbridge. Sergeant was now associated with one of New England's most powerful families and lived in a splendid Georgian home, but still retained the trust and affection of his Indian community. During his fourteen years in Stockbridge, the Native American population grew from less than 50 to 218, of whom 182 were baptized by sergeants.

Sergeant, however, did not have a very high opinion of his Indian protégés. He portrayed them as a very poor and degenerate part of the human race who had their stupid, barbaric and dangerous customs , with no responsibility whatsoever and an aversion to anything that impaired their freedom . Like other missionaries, he was soon convinced that the Indians could only be halfway "civilized" if they learned the English language. That is why he set up a boarding school in 1743 , in which Indian boys and girls between the ages of ten and twenty were to live and be educated. A farm with cattle and other domestic animals was attached to the school. Two teachers were to teach them, one in practical work, the other in the humanities.

John Sergeant Jr.

In the meantime, the King George's War (1744-1748) had broken out and prevented further expansion of the school. It was not until 1749 that Massachusetts approved more funds, shortly before John Sergeant died of nerve fever on July 27, 1749. John and Abigail Sergeant had three children. The youngest son, John Sergeant Jr., was only two years old when his father died. He studied theology at Princeton and took over the parish in Stockbridge in 1775. However, he could not prevent his Indian protégés from being wronged and the Stockbridge project from being doomed to failure.

After the American Civil War , Stockbridge decided to leave Massachusetts. The war had decimated them and in their village the whites had taken over the regiment and forced the Indians to sell their land. The discouraged remnants of the Mahican nation, 420 in all, accepted an invitation from Oneida and moved to an area on Oneida Creek, New York State . By 1786, most of Stockbridge had settled there and called their place of residence New Stockbridge . Here two parties formed, one wanted John Sergeant Jr. as pastor, the other preferred Samson Occom . After Occom's death in 1792, John Sergeant came to New Stockbridge and took over the church there.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ John Sergeant
2. ↑ ^{a b c} John Sergeant Biography
3. ↑ Wilcomb E. Washburn (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 4: History of Indian-White Relations. Page 682f.

literature

• Wilcomb E. Washburn (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 4: History of Indian-White Relations. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1988. ISBN 0-16004-583-5

Web links

• biography