The Obituary of Jemima (Burnham) Emerson, 1868 - The Christian Wife of an Infidel

The Col. Joshua Burnham Tavern, photo 2001
where Jemima Burnham grew up, Milford, New Hampshire

My 4th great grandmother was born as Jemima Burnham.  Her name is listed as Jemima Wyman Burnham on an SAR application dated 20 August 1957 for Emerson Francis Thayer McLean, a distant cousin.  I've never seen her listed with a middle name on any other vital record or documentation.  Her mother's name was Jemima Wyman, so it could be possible.  Jemima was born 9 May 1783 in Milford, New Hampshire.  It is often difficult to learn about the lives of our women ancestors, but bits and pieces of Jemima's life have become revealed to me over 40 years of searching for clues.

Her father was Colonel Joshua Burnham.  He was a local character, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, a local hero who was present at the Battle of Bunker Hill and served in New York, Philadelphia and Canada.  The history of Milford states that he was an eyewitness when George Washington took command of the Continental Army.  He built a large farm and tavern near the banks of the Souhegan River, which is still standing on River Road.  He later sold his tavern and property to Jesse and Polly Hutchinson, who raised their thirteen children there in Milford.  These children were famous as the Hutchinson Family singers who sang songs of temperance, abolition, women's suffrage, and other progressive movements all over the USA and even in Europe.  

Although Col. Burnham sold his farm to the Hutchinson family, he remained in Milford, and remained a good friend to Jesse Hutchinson.  He must have agreed with all the progressive beliefs, and discussed them with the Hutchinson's various friends who included P. T. Barnum, William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass.  These famous singers gave their very first concert at the Baptist church in Milford.  The Hutchinson Singers toured England with Douglass in 1845, and some moved to Lynn, Massachusetts to live next door to him.  

Local history and various Hutchinson journals and books remember Col. Burnham as an old veteran who would wander the property, often stuffing his pockets with apples from the orchard.  The Burnham family and the Hutchinson family lie side by side in a small burial ground, the North Yard Cemetery,  within site of the Col. Burnham tavern on River Road.  Joshua Hutchinson wrote the epitaph for Joshua Burnham "Soldier of the revolution zealous in his country's cause, Faithful to the constitution and obedient to its laws"

These stories are what I know of Jemima's life in Milford.  Of course, she had married by 1810 to Romanus Emerson and removed to South Boston where her children were born.  Her family had been members of the Baptist Church in Milford, listed on the records.  The same Baptist church that held the first concerts for the Hutchinson family who sang about abolition before the Civil War.  Although the Baptist church is considered conservative today, they supported very progressive ideas in the early nineteenth century. 

I was not surprised that she married Romanus Emerson.  He came from a family of ministers.  They were Congregationalists going back to Puritan times.  The Emerson family included early ministers such as Rev. Joseph Emerson, born in England about 1620, who married Elizabeth Bulkely, the daughter of Rev. Edward Bulkely (1614 - 1696) the first minister of Concord, Massachusetts.  Even Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882), son of a Concord minister, also studied for the ministry at Harvard.  Romanus Emerson had three brothers who became ministers, and he himself studied for the ministry but gave up due to a speech impediment.  

It was during his time studying theology that Romanus Emerson had a change of heart.  He became an atheist.  He said that "Freethinking" without the constraints of religion and other social mores opened his mind to progressive thoughts and more independent beliefs.  He joined the Free Soil movement, the abolitionists, and the Infidel Society.  He called himself an "Infidel" for the rest of his life, and wrote his own eulogy describing his "Infidel" beliefs. 

I have no idea what Jemima thought of all this during her married life with Romanus, the atheist.  I believe that she agreed with his progressive thoughts and politics.  But to be an atheist, or an "Infidel", at this time was considered quite shocking.  As a Baptist all her life, this was probably somewhat of a problem at home. Or was it? Women were considered to be obedient and quiet in those days. But we know that was not always the case.  

Romanus died in 1852.  He was a famous Bostonian, with his obituaries carried in newspapers across the country.  His last wish was to not have a Christian funeral, but to be buried in South Boston "At the point" and for his best friend, Horace Seaver, to read his self written eulogy.  However, his family (Jemima?) did not follow his final wishes, and gave him a funeral officiated by the Rev. Capen of the Hawes Place Church (next door to their house) and he was laid to rest in the Hawes Burying Ground.  Was it out of spite that she ignored her husband's final wishes? or did Jemima truly love her husband and worry about his immortal soul? 

As a widow, Jemima Emerson was enumerated in the 1855 Massachusetts State Census and the1860 Federal Census living in the Boston home of Melzar Stetson, her son-in-law, husband to her daughter Emily.  Her death certificate lists her place of death as 88 Emerson Street, her home address on the street in South Boston named after her Infidel husband, Romanus. 

Jemima died in 1868. Unlike her famous husband, I found only one mention of Jemima's death (other than short death notices in Boston newspapers) in The Christian Watchman (a Boston Baptist journal), dated Thursday, 27 August 1868, on page 7. See the obituary transcribed below.  She was laid to rest at the Mount Hope Cemetery in the Mattapan section of Boston, and Romanus was reinterred from the Hawes Burial Ground to lie next to her.  I like to think that perhaps it was out of love that she had him moved to be next to her for eternity.

"Obituary

Mrs. Jemima Emerson

In South Boston, August 5, Mrs. Jemima Emerson, at the advanced age of 86 years, widow of the late Romanus Emerson.  When 18 years of age she was converted, and baptized in Milford, N. H.  Afterwards united with the Dudley Street Church, Roxbury, and then with the South Baptist Church, and finally became a constituent member of the Fourth Street Baptist Church.  Her early Christian experience began with deep conviction of sin, from which, after long struggles, she was delivered by the power of Christ.  This, together with the opposition she encountered in following the Lord in baptism, determined, in great measure, the marked features of her subsequent life.  She loved the doctrines of grace, and clung with ever increasing tenacity to the great pillars of eternal truth.  She loved the assembly of God's people, and even until within a few weeks of her death her voice was frequently heard in the prayer meeting, as she bore cheerful testimony to the faithfulness of God.  Her children have lost a faithful, godly mother, whose prayers for their spiritual welfare ended only with her life.  The church she honored has lost a firm friend.  The community, which for forty years has been growing around her, has lost a beacon of light.  She now enjoys the rest which for many years she has anticipated, and she "being dead yet speaketh."  "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.  They shall still bring forth fruit in old age." " 

For the truly curious:

"Romanus Emerson's Boston Obituaries 1852", published February 9, 2021: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/02/romanus-emersons-boston-obituaries-1852.html   

"Romanus Emerson's Obituaries 1852" (published across the United States), posted on this blog on October 1st, 2020:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/10/romanus-emersons-obituaries-1852.html    

My Surname Saturday post on the EMERSON family:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/surname-saturday-emerson-of-ipswich.html    

My Surname Saturday post on the BURNHAM family:     https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/05/surname-saturday-burnham-of-chebacco.html  

"Tombstone Tuesday ~ Col. Joshua Burnham, Milford, New Hampshire":     https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/10/tombstone-tuesday-col-joshua-burnham.html  

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To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Obituary of Jemima (Burnham) Emerson, 1868 - The Christian Wife of an Infidel", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 23, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-obituary-of-jemima-burnham-emerson.html: accessed [access date]).  

Romanus Emerson's Self Written Eulogy 1852

As I wrote in my blog post last week, my 4th great grandfather, Romanus Emerson (1782 - 1852) wrote his own funeral eulogy, with instructions that he NOT be given a Christian funeral or burial. This was ignored by his family, who had Rev. Capen of the Hawes Place Church give a sermon and he was laid to rest in the Hawes Burying Ground in South Boston. Later he was reinterred at the Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan where he lays beside his wife, Jemima (Burnham) Emerson (1783 - 1868).  The newspapers across Boston, and Massachusetts, and even across the country, all carried his obituary and the scandalous nature of his funeral where his final wishes were not carried out by friends and family. 

His final wish was to have a simple burial, and for the editor, Horace Seaver, of the Boston Investigator (a progressive newspaper) to read this self written eulogy or statement.  Romanus was an avowed atheist, or as they were known at the time, an "infidel". This was considered quite improper in Boston.  Horace Seaver was his friend, and Romanus Emerson had written several articles for the Boston Investigator.  Horace Seaver carried this funeral address in the 20 October 1852 issue of the newspaper. 

"FUNERAL ADDRESS OF ROMANUS EMERSON

          WRITTEN BY HIMSELF

                                     Boston, June 17, 1849

To all my nearest relatives who may be my survivors, and to ALL who are relatives or friends who may be my survivors: -

      Being in good health and sound mind, calm and composed, I do hereby, in pursuance of a long and well settled intention, request, order, and direct, that, at the time of my decease, funeral, or burial, or at any time thereafter, there shall be no funeral sermon or other religious discourse delivered at any place on the account of my decease, either by the consent or request of any of the forenamed relatives or friends.  Also, that no priest or minister of the Gospel or pious religionist of any kind be allowed to speak, address, or exhort at the time or during any part of the funeral ceremonies.  And further - that honest, liberal, free-thinking men be selected to take charge of the order of the proceedings, in pursuance of the advice and request of my nearest relatives, my survivors.  All which I soberly and seriously enjoin.

      Whereas it is a fact, that daily experience and observation corroborate, that all who are born must die, I have thought it most fit and proper that I should write my own funeral address, inasmuch as I am decidedly opposed to the services of a clergyman of any denomination at my own funeral; and also, that I may leave to my survivors my own own sentiments in regard to the order of Nature and what is commonly called Theology.

      I consider that death and decomposition leave us just where we were before we were born; that there is no identity to any of mankind after death and decomposition; that mankind were formed from the elements, or composed of the elements, and as certainly return to the elements; that there is no part or parcel of the creature man that survives his decomposition.

     This, I consider to be the inflexible, unalterable, and universal order of Nature.  To this, mankind must all arrive, without single exception, whether their imaginations are wrought up to a high pitch, in anticipation of future bliss beyond the grave, or whether their reason and philosophy confine their speculations to this world and the system to which it belongs.  "In this warfare there is no discharge."

     I consider Theology, so called, a system of deception and fraud, whereby one class of citizens obtain a rich living by exciting the hopes and fears of their fellow beings in regard to a place of happiness and a place of misery somewhere away from this globe or world which we inhabit; and also, in regard to beings or existences not material, nondescripts, residing nowhere and yet everywhere present.

     Also, said Theology maintains that one of these wonderful beings has written a book called the Bible, and that mankind are bound to believe what that Bible says, upon the penalty of eternal damnation.

     Out of this Theology, whether Christian, Mahomedan, or Hindoo, have arisen all those belligerent and contending sects, who have in turn destroyed each other and even desolated the fair face of Nature.

     The morality of said book, the Bible, I believe will not compare, as a whole, with the writings of the ancient philosophers.  Let everyone impartially examine both, and render his own verdict.

     My relatives and friends are hereby exhorted to reject every system of Theology which may be offered for their acceptance, as tending only to distract the mind and lead it away from the cause of humanity. To do as you would wish to be done unto, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is better than all the religious systems of the world put together.  As one who speaks to you from the grave, I exhort you to live peaceably with all mankind; view the whole human family as a universal brotherhood; maintain inflexibly, on every occasion, the truth; and set it down as an invariable consequent, that deception and fraud work their own ruin and give no peace and comfort to the mind.

     The individual interest of each is advanced in proportion as each advances the good of the whole.  Seek, therefore, to establish and perpetuate a rational, practical, and useful education for the masses, so that no child shall be without a competent education for the transaction of any business in the ordinary concerns of life.  And as children are not responsible for their birth, or the time or place of their birth, or the circumstances which may surround them, the generation who conduct the affairs of the world for the time being are responsible and should give to every child, however poor it may be, a good, rational, and practical education.  Furthermore, as many children are left with relatives to protect them, the State should establish institutions which should feed, clothe, and educate them so that they may be equal to their fellows of the same generation.

    Nothing will elevate the masses, and raise them to their proper position in the world, but an equal education for one and for all.  Nothing, to my mind, is of so vast importance as this, for the well-being of society and the good of the world.  Nothing but this will preserve the free institutions of these United States from decay and corruption.  This being done, free institutions will grow and flourish and improve with their age, and root out the evils which through ignorance they my labor under.

N.B. - This, my funeral address, is to read at my funeral by a liberal-minded, well-disposed freethinker, and either he or some other liberalist may address the audience as occasion may serve; and this my funeral address, I wish to have published, after my decease, in as many of the newspapers of the day as choose to do it.

    And furthermore, I order that my grave-clothes shall be of the most common and cheap kind, and my coffin of pine and the most ordinary sort.

    In testimony whereof, I subscribe my name in my own hand-writing,

                   ROMANUS EMERSON"

For the truly curious:

"Romanus Emerson's Boston Obituaries 1852", published February 9, 2021: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/02/romanus-emersons-boston-obituaries-1852.html   

"Romanus Emerson's Obituaries 1852" (published across the United States), posted on this blog on October 1st, 2020:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/10/romanus-emersons-obituaries-1852.html    

My Surname Saturday post on the EMERSON family:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/surname-saturday-emerson-of-ipswich.html    

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To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Romanus Emerson's Self Written Eulogy 1852", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 18, 2021,  ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/02/romanus-emersons-self-written-eulogy.html: accessed [access date]). 

1850 Valentine's Day Warning

 

From The New Hampshire Gazette, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Tuesday, February 12, 1850, Issue 7, page 2.  

"ST. VALENTINE'S - On Thursday, St. Valentine will hold his annual festival.  Single ladies and gentlemen may expect the usual quantity of favors, while "the little god Cupid" acts as post-boy.  Old bachelors should fortify their bosoms with an extra covering of linen, as the mischievous archer sometimes plays the dickens with tender breast-works.  Romantic girls should exercise caution in the distribution of their gilt edged missives, or they may find love-lorn swains susceptible enough to admit the "soft impeachment."  Finally, ladies, one and all, look out for the males on the morn of Valentine; and if you get caught, avenge yourselves by lass-ooing the rogues who wish to entangle you."

 

Romanus Emerson's Boston Obituaries, 1852

 

The Boston Investigator (1831 - 1904)
The first American newspaper for freethought

A few months ago I posted a story about my 4th great grandfather Romanus Emerson's 1852 obituaries that were carried in newspapers across the country.  I was surprised that an ordinary citizen of Boston would have his obituaries copied and reprinted in so many cities.  However, Romanus Emerson was an avowed "infidel" or "atheist", which was highly unusual at that time, which was probably very newsworthy.  His request to NOT have a clergyman preside over his funeral was ignored by his friends and family, which was probably more of a news story than his unusual thoughts about religion.

You can click on the link above or below to read the short obituaries in cities outside of New England, but I've included a few obituaries from Boston here today.  

 South Boston Gazette: (date unknown)

"The death of Father EMERSON, an old resident of the Ward, demands more than a passing notice.  We have gathered the following events in his life, from a reliable source.  Romanus Emerson was born in Hancock, New Hampshire, September 1st, 1782.  Besides one sister, he had three brothers, Orthodox ministers, that survive him,  - Rev. Dr. Brown Emerson of Salem, Rev. Reuben Emerson of Reading, both older than he, and Rev. Noah Emerson, of Holliston, younger.  He was educated for the ministry and entered college with his brothers, but owing to an impediment in his speech, he gave it up and learned the Carpenter's trade.  He came to South Boston in 1809, was married in 1810, and has therefore reside here 43 years, engaged as a West India Goods Dealer and at his trade.  When he came here the spot on which he settled (near the Hawes Place Meeting House) was the village consisting of only six houses, and the only place settled.  He paid 3 cents a foot for land, while near the Bridge he could buy it for 1/4 of a cent.  We mention this to show the increase in real estate.

    He has left a wife and six children.  He has been Fence Viewer since 1822, was a member of the Common Council in 1843, and was an original pew owner and member of the Hawes Place Society, and continued so to his death.  As a man, he was strictly honest, always to be relied on in business transactions, an excellent neighbor, a good citizen, a firm unyielding friend of temperance, and had been for 18 years.  He formerly sold liquor, had a license, but seeing its evil he gave it up in 1834.  In politics - a Jeffersonian Democrat, repeatedly a candidate for that party.  In 1848 he became a Free Soiler, as firm and unyielding as he had previously been Democratic.  In religion, - he was in former years a strict Baptist, an active, praying, faithful member of the Baptist church.  In 1834 he read Thomas Paine's Age of reason; this, with other causes, changed his views, and he asked and received his honorable discharge from the Baptist church; then went to the extreme point the other way.  His views, to which he has adhered 18 years, and in the full faith of which he died, were- that there was no God, except a God of Nature; that death is an eternal sleep, that when he died that was the end of him - annihilation.  

    He gave full directions as to his funeral; that he should be put in a pine coffin and buried in the burying ground at the Point, which was done; and also left an address to be read at his funeral by Horace Seaver, Esq. Editor of the Investigator.  After consultation of his friends with Mr. Seaver,  it was deemed best that he should be buried from the Hawes Place Meeting House and Rev. Lemuel Capen deliver an Address and make a Prayer, which was done on Wednesday afternoon, at 2 o'clock.  The funeral was attended by a large number of relatives and friends.  The Address of Mr. Capen dwelt on the life and character of the deceased.

    Mr. Emerson left a Will.  He gave to the Infidel Relief Society five hundred dollars, but as they are no known to the law, it is doubtful whether they can receive it.  The rest of his property goes to his wife and children.

    The complaint causing his death was general debility of the system - consumption of the blood, caused by advancing old age.  He had been failing about one year and six months; and he retained all his mental faculties to the last, and though at times in great distress, died calmly, without a struggle."

And from The Boston Herald, Thursday, October 14, 1852, page 2:

"ROMANUS EMERSON, Esq. one of the oldest citizens of South Boston, and for many years, one of the leading infidels of this city, died on Saturday last, aged 70 years.  In early life he was a firm Baptist, and has three brothers who are clergymen.  The Traveller learns, that it was his dying request that no clergyman should officiate at his funeral, but that an address should be read, which was written by himself, explaining his religious principals.  His request was not complied with.  Mr. Emerson has been esteemed as an upright and valuable citizen by all who knew him." 

And from The Boston Investigator, Wednesday October 13, 1852, page 3

"Obituary   Died - South Boston, on Sunday evening last, of illness, Romanus Emerson, Esq. aged 70 years.  His funeral will take place this (Wednesday) afternoon at 2 o'clock.

   Mr. Emerson possessed in a very remarkable degree all those qualities which render a man estimable in society.  He was truly a philanthropist; and by his unaffected manners, excellent judgement, and fatherly counsel, solicited the affection and respect of all who enjoyed the pleasure of his acquaintance.  A high sense of honor extended itself in the minutest transactions of his life, and his integrity and truth were beyond the shadow of suspicion. He was a strict lover of justice, bordering on enthusiasm, and by his associates in the cause of Free Enquiry he was held as a honor and ornament.  We thin we may say with the utmost confidence, that if ever a person lived of whom it might be said he was a pure-minded and honest man, it was ROMANUS EMERSON.  His many virtues endeared him in the hearts of a large circle of friends, who, while they regret his decease, will cherish and venerate his memory.

    Mr. EMERSON, on the subject of religion, was a materialist and a member of the Boston Infidel Relief Society. Possessing an uncommon mind, improved by much reading and reflection, he was led in former years to examine and eventually reject the religious opinions of the church.  He was decidedly opposed to the religious dogmas of the day, and being a man of great decision and firmness, he maintained and preserved his opinions to the last against all opposition.  And although without the Christian's faith and hope to support him in the final hour, he met the change with perfect composure and resignation, affording another proof that an honest and useful life is a sure guarantee of meeting with dignity and submission the approach of death.  Having practiced when in health those virtues which adorn human nature and impart purity and serenity to the mind, his long and painful sickness was borne without repining, and his last hour was calm and tranquil.

    Not long since, and before his strength and faculties began to fail him, Mr. EMERSON wrote with his own hand an address to be read at his burial, this address we shall publish in our next paper."  

I found the eulogy written by Romanus Emerson himself in the October 20, 1852 issue of The Boston Investigator newspaper.  I'll post the entire piece in the next installment of my blog posts on Romanus Emerson! 

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For the truly curious:

My blog post from October 2020 "Romanus Emerson Obituaries, 1852" contains many links to other stories written about my "infidel" ancestor! 

 https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/10/romanus-emersons-obituaries-1852.html    

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To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Romanus Emerson's Boston Obituaries, 1852", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 9, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/02/romanus-emersons-boston-obituaries-1852.html: accessed [access date]). 

Hancock, New Hampshire Town Hall - Weathervane Wednesday

 Today's weathervane was photographed in Hancock, New Hampshire.

The Hancock town hall is on the common, across from the Congregational Church and the Pine Ridge Cemetery.  The first "meetinghouse" was the church across the street, with it's bell made by Paul Revere, built in 1790, and the bell tower added later.  In 1871 the church and town government separated, and the town hall was built across the street. According to The History of Hancock, New Hampshire page 288, "W. S. Carkin, who [it is conjectured] contributed the elegant weather-vane, so useful as ornamental, which now rests on the cupola of this structure".  The new building served as a school, as well as for meetings and town offices. 

The town separated from Peterborough in 1779 and was named after John Hancock. He owned land in what is now the center of town. The first settler in Hancock was John Grimes, a Scots Irish man from Londonderry. He settled in Hancock in 1764 for a brief time, but returned to Londonderry.  

In the 2010 census there were 204 people residing in the main village (the junction of NH state routes 123 and 137) and a total of 1,654 in the town of Hancock.  My 5th great grandparents, John Emerson and Catharine Eaton, removed from Massachusetts to Hancock after the Revolutionary War.  In 1790 the population of the town was 634 people, then it jumped up to 1,184 around the time of their deaths (1809).  The population of the town dropped during the Civil War and reached a low of 531 in 1920.  The estimate for 2017 (according to Wikipedia) has dropped again down to 1,640.  None of John and Catherine Emerson's eleven children lived in Hancock (or even New Hampshire) after marriage - they all removed to distant places such as Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio.  Farming the stony soil in the hills of the Monadnock region of New Hampshire was not profitable. 

As you can read above, the weathervane above the cupola on the Hancock town hall dates from about 1871.  It is a scrollwork weathervane, probably mass produced in a local New England factory, which was a common product in this time period.  Scroll weathervanes were popular, replacing the banner weathervanes of the eighteenth century. This arrow style scroll features a heart shaped tail. 

For the Truly Curious:

The History of Hancock, New Hampshire: 1764 - 1889, by William Willis Hayward, 1889

The Town of Hancock, New Hampshire website:  https://www.hancocknh.org/  

Hancock, New Hampshire Congregational Church - Weathervane Wednesday:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/01/hancock-new-hampshire-congregational.html   

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To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Hancock, New Hampshire Town Hall - Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 3, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/01/hancock-new-hampshire-town-hall.html: accessed [access date]). 

John B. Sargent and Caroline Rowell, Goffstown, New Hampshire - Tombstone Tuesday

 These tombstones were photographed at the Hillside Cemetery in Goffstown, New Hampshire. 

JOHN B. SARGENT

DIED

AUG. 28, 1848

AE. 35

CAROLINE W.

WIFE OF

JOHN B. SARGENT

DECEASED

JULY 14, 1913; 

AE. 91. 

John Blaisdell Sargent was born 13 February 1813 in Goffstown, New Hampshire, the son of Joseph Sargent and Sally Blaisdell.  He married Caroline Rowell of Hooksett, New Hampshire on 8 June 1841.  He was a mason, who died young.  [History of Goffstown, New Hampshire 1733 - 1920, by George Plummer Hadley, Volume 2, page 455] 

Caroline Rowell, daughter of Peter Clement Rowell and Susan Eastman, was born 4 July 1822 in Hooksett, and  died 13 July 1913. She remarried to Thomas F. Cheney on 29 November 1865 in Manchester, New Hampshire.  The tombstone above doesn't mention Cheney.    

They had two children:

1.  George H. Sargent, born 29 April 1842 in Goffstown.  He worked for the railroad and lived in Marshall, Iowa.  He served three years in the Civil War in Company K, 2nd Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers.  

2.  Charles G. Sargent was born about 1846 and lived in Dunstable, Massachusetts. He was a painter and paper hanger. He served in the Civil War in Company K, 2nd Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, and also in the 3rd Maryland Cavalry.  

John Blaisdell Sargent's father was Joseph Sargent, son of Joseph Sargent and Betsey, born 1784 in Goffstown, and died 16 February 1860 in Goffstown.  He married Sally Blaisdell and had seven children: Nancy, Levi, Lettie, John Blaisdell (see above), Lewis, Calvin B., and William Blaisdell.  He was a farmer, and a legislator.  

John's grandfather, Joseph Sargent, was born 11 November 1756 in Amesbury, Massachusetts, the son of Trueworthy Sargent and Hopestill Weed.  Joseph Sargent died in 1824 in Bradford, New Hampshire.  [History of Goffstown, New Hampshire 1733 - 1920, by George Plummer Hadley, Volume 2, pages 450 - 451]  Trueworthy Sargent lived in Londonderry, New Hampshire in 1776 where he signed the Association Test, [DAR Genealogical Research Databases "Record of Trueworthy Sargent", Ancestor #A100453] and was living in Goffstown by 1812. 

For the truly curious:

Sargent Record: William Sargent of Ipswich, Newbury, Hampton, Salisbury and Amesbury, New England, U.S., with his descendants and their intermarriages, and other Sargent branches, by Edwin Everett Sargent, 1899.  (see Joseph Sargent on page 81,  Joseph Sargent on page 153, and John Blaisdell Sargent on page 226)

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To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "John B. Sargent and Caroline Rowell, Goffstown, New Hampshire - Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 2, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/02/john-b-sargent-and-caroline-rowell.html: accessed [access date]).