Lucius Manlius Sargent
Encyclopedia
Lucius Manlius Sargent was an American
author, antiquarian, and temperance advocate.
to Boston and profited so much by his industry, prudence, and popularity that he occupied what was for those days a conspicuously expensive mansion, although his character was notable for thrift and dread of ostentation.
Lucius Manlius attended a number of elementary and secondary schools, including Phillips Exeter Academy
, from which he passed to Harvard
in 1804. He did not complete his studies there, for a pamphlet published by him in 1807, No. 1 of the New Milk Cheese, pours furious scorn on an official of the college with whom he had had a dispute about the quality of the food at the commons table. He studied law after leaving college and was admitted to the bar on February 19, 1811, but he never practised to any extent, for he inherited wealth and greatly increased it by conservative speculation.
He turned to literature as a vocation, publishing The Culex of Virgil; with a Translation into English Verse and a collection of Latin riddles in 1807 and Hubert and Ellen, a volume of poems, in 1812. At the Boston peace celebration on February 22, 1815 (following the War of 1812
), an ode of his, "Wreaths for the Chieftain," was sung. He wrote constantly for the newspapers and became well known for his literary interests.
He found a popular subject in temperance reform
, which he took up with characteristic assertiveness. From 1830 till the approach of the Civil War he spoke and wrote on this theme so frequently and vigorously that he became one of the most uncompromising and conspicuous leaders in the crusade against liquor. He wrote Three Temperance Tales (2 vols., 1848), twenty-one stories of a tract-like nature bearing such titles as "My Mother's Gold Ring", "I Am Afraid There Is A God", "Groggy Harbor", and "An Irish Heart", first published in separate issues between 1833 and 1843. These were widely distributed by religious and temperance societies as well as by Sargent himself. His temperance tales were translated into several languages.
He also achieved prominence as an antiquarian
. In 1848 he began a series of weekly articles in the Boston Evening Transcript entitled "Dealings with the Dead" (published in book form in 1856), which in spite of their name did not lack light touches. Under such pseudonyms as Sigma, Amgis, Saveall, and others, he wrote for numerous other publications, and he aroused considerable interest by attacking the coolie
trade of the British in India (Evening Transcript, April 16-October 3, 1856) and by assailing Thomas Babington Macaulay
for statements derogatory to William Penn
(Dealings with the Dead, I, pp. 231–69).
Though he showed enthusiasm for the past, his efforts were generally directed towards blasting something offensive to him out of existence. At seventy-five he published The Ballad of the Abolition Blunder-buss (1861), which abuses Ralph Waldo Emerson
and others for their antislavery views as violently as his Temperance Tales do the saloonkeeper. Even one of his obituaries refers to him as a man of "harsh prejudices", though it acknowledges the urbanity of his manners in his ordinary dealings and the warmth of his attachment to his family and friends.
In 1842 Harvard conferred the degree of A.M.
on him, thereby recognizing his public services and condoning his undergraduate rebellion, for the violence of which he often expressed regret. He was preeminently a good hater, but he was a conspicuous man in his day and helped to develop a sentiment in favor of prohibition
, besides making rather valuable contributions to local history.
He also wrote Reminiscences of Samuel Dexter (1858) and The Irrepressible Conflict (1861). His numerous poems were never printed in book-form.
and the nephew of American Revolutionary War
soldier Paul Dudley Sargent
.
On April 3, 1816, he married a sister of Horace Binney
, Mary Binney of Philadelphia, by whom he had three children. Their son Horace Binney Sargent (b. Quincy, Massachusetts
June 30, 1821) graduated from Harvard in 1843, and from the law school there in 1845. At the opening of the Civil War
he was senior aide on the staff of Gov. John A. Andrew, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Regiment, Massachusetts Cavalry, in 1861, became colonel of the same regiment in October 1862, was on duty with the forces in South Carolina
, in the Army of the Potomac
and the Department of the Gulf, participating in the engagements of Secessionville, Culpeper, and Rapidan Station, and in the battles of Antietam, South Mountain, Chancellorsville, and in the Red River campaign under Gen. Banks, where he was wounded in action, March 21, 1864. He was brevetted brigadier general for “gallantry and good conduct,” and on September 29, 1864, was mustered out on account of wounds received in action. He was a frequent contributor to periodical literature and the press, and delivered numerous addresses.
After the death of his first wife in 1824, Lucius Manlius married Sarah Cutler Dunn on July 14, 1825. Their son Lucius Manlius Sargent (September 15, 1826 Boston
– December 9, 1864, near Petersburg, Virginia
) graduated at Harvard in 1848, and at the medical school there in 1857, becoming house surgeon and dispensary physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital
. He was commissioned surgeon in the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteers in May 1861, but resigned in October of that year, and became captain in the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry, was ordered to the Army of the Potomac, and participated in the battles of Kelly's Ford, Antietam, South Mountain, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. He became major in his former regiment, January 2, 1864, lieutenant colonel, September 30, and was mortally wounded in an engagement on Meherrin River.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author, antiquarian, and temperance advocate.
Biography
He was born in Boston, the youngest of seven children of Daniel and Mary (Turner) Sargent. His father was a merchant dealing in fishermen's supplies who had moved from GloucesterGloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...
to Boston and profited so much by his industry, prudence, and popularity that he occupied what was for those days a conspicuously expensive mansion, although his character was notable for thrift and dread of ostentation.
Lucius Manlius attended a number of elementary and secondary schools, including Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
, from which he passed to Harvard
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
in 1804. He did not complete his studies there, for a pamphlet published by him in 1807, No. 1 of the New Milk Cheese, pours furious scorn on an official of the college with whom he had had a dispute about the quality of the food at the commons table. He studied law after leaving college and was admitted to the bar on February 19, 1811, but he never practised to any extent, for he inherited wealth and greatly increased it by conservative speculation.
He turned to literature as a vocation, publishing The Culex of Virgil; with a Translation into English Verse and a collection of Latin riddles in 1807 and Hubert and Ellen, a volume of poems, in 1812. At the Boston peace celebration on February 22, 1815 (following the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
), an ode of his, "Wreaths for the Chieftain," was sung. He wrote constantly for the newspapers and became well known for his literary interests.
He found a popular subject in temperance reform
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
, which he took up with characteristic assertiveness. From 1830 till the approach of the Civil War he spoke and wrote on this theme so frequently and vigorously that he became one of the most uncompromising and conspicuous leaders in the crusade against liquor. He wrote Three Temperance Tales (2 vols., 1848), twenty-one stories of a tract-like nature bearing such titles as "My Mother's Gold Ring", "I Am Afraid There Is A God", "Groggy Harbor", and "An Irish Heart", first published in separate issues between 1833 and 1843. These were widely distributed by religious and temperance societies as well as by Sargent himself. His temperance tales were translated into several languages.
He also achieved prominence as an antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
. In 1848 he began a series of weekly articles in the Boston Evening Transcript entitled "Dealings with the Dead" (published in book form in 1856), which in spite of their name did not lack light touches. Under such pseudonyms as Sigma, Amgis, Saveall, and others, he wrote for numerous other publications, and he aroused considerable interest by attacking the coolie
Coolie
Historically, a coolie was a manual labourer or slave from Asia, particularly China, India, and the Phillipines during the 19th century and early 20th century...
trade of the British in India (Evening Transcript, April 16-October 3, 1856) and by assailing Thomas Babington Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay PC was a British poet, historian and Whig politician. He wrote extensively as an essayist and reviewer, and on British history...
for statements derogatory to William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
(Dealings with the Dead, I, pp. 231–69).
Though he showed enthusiasm for the past, his efforts were generally directed towards blasting something offensive to him out of existence. At seventy-five he published The Ballad of the Abolition Blunder-buss (1861), which abuses Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
and others for their antislavery views as violently as his Temperance Tales do the saloonkeeper. Even one of his obituaries refers to him as a man of "harsh prejudices", though it acknowledges the urbanity of his manners in his ordinary dealings and the warmth of his attachment to his family and friends.
In 1842 Harvard conferred the degree of A.M.
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
on him, thereby recognizing his public services and condoning his undergraduate rebellion, for the violence of which he often expressed regret. He was preeminently a good hater, but he was a conspicuous man in his day and helped to develop a sentiment in favor of prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
, besides making rather valuable contributions to local history.
He also wrote Reminiscences of Samuel Dexter (1858) and The Irrepressible Conflict (1861). His numerous poems were never printed in book-form.
Family
Lucius Manlius is the brother of artist Henry SargentHenry Sargent
Henry Sargent , American painter and military man, was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He was one of seven children born to Daniel and Mary Sargent...
and the nephew of American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
soldier Paul Dudley Sargent
Paul Dudley Sargent
Paul Dudley Sargent was a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.-Revolutionary War Service:...
.
On April 3, 1816, he married a sister of Horace Binney
Horace Binney
Horace Binney was an American lawyer who served as an Anti-Jacksonian in the United States House of Representatives.-Biography:...
, Mary Binney of Philadelphia, by whom he had three children. Their son Horace Binney Sargent (b. Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
June 30, 1821) graduated from Harvard in 1843, and from the law school there in 1845. At the opening of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
he was senior aide on the staff of Gov. John A. Andrew, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Regiment, Massachusetts Cavalry, in 1861, became colonel of the same regiment in October 1862, was on duty with the forces in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, in the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
and the Department of the Gulf, participating in the engagements of Secessionville, Culpeper, and Rapidan Station, and in the battles of Antietam, South Mountain, Chancellorsville, and in the Red River campaign under Gen. Banks, where he was wounded in action, March 21, 1864. He was brevetted brigadier general for “gallantry and good conduct,” and on September 29, 1864, was mustered out on account of wounds received in action. He was a frequent contributor to periodical literature and the press, and delivered numerous addresses.
After the death of his first wife in 1824, Lucius Manlius married Sarah Cutler Dunn on July 14, 1825. Their son Lucius Manlius Sargent (September 15, 1826 Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
– December 9, 1864, near Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
) graduated at Harvard in 1848, and at the medical school there in 1857, becoming house surgeon and dispensary physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts...
. He was commissioned surgeon in the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteers in May 1861, but resigned in October of that year, and became captain in the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry, was ordered to the Army of the Potomac, and participated in the battles of Kelly's Ford, Antietam, South Mountain, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. He became major in his former regiment, January 2, 1864, lieutenant colonel, September 30, and was mortally wounded in an engagement on Meherrin River.