Our Forebears

Bethany Smalledge was born about 1744 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. There is a baptism record on February 5, 1744, in Boston for “Bethany daughter of Benjamin and Rebecca Smalledge.” Professor Sage corresponded with Luman DeWitt Sergeant (son of William Samuel Sergeant, son of Samuel George Sergeant) in 1892 and 1894 and summarized his research findings up to that point. In some of the stories, Samuel had married an English girl named Sally Richardson, but in another, it was Elizabeth Birdsall. Professor Sage traveled to Boston sometime after 1894, which is when he discovered the marriage record for Samuel Sergeant and Bethany Smalledge and he updated his research notes accordingly.

Lewis Sergeant (son of Thomas Sergeant) relayed his family history to a cousin in 1886 when Lewis was about 80 years old. Lewis said the parents of Sally, Samuel and Thomas died leaving the children in poor circumstances in England. Since we found the children’s baptism records in Boston, we know that part of Lewis’ story is incorrect. However, the clue about being poor prompted a review of the Almshouse records of Boston. Those records included two entries for a Bethene/Bethine Sargent. In the first entry in January 1773, she was given wood, probably to keep warm; and the second entry was on January 25, 1781, when “Bethene Sargant and Son” were received into the Almshouse. There are no entries of “Bethene” and her son being discharged from the Almshouse; however, there is an indenture record for “Thomas Sargant” just two weeks later. In those days, a young child orphaned in the poorhouse would typically be bound out, or indentured for an apprenticeship. The legal agreement expired when the male apprentice turned 21, while for females it was 18. The expiration of Thomas’ indenture on September 21, 1791, indicates that his birthday was September 21, 1770, which matches Thomas’ approximate birth year on his headstone.

There were several other Smalledge’s listed in the Almshouse records, including Rebecca Smalledge, who could be Bethany’s mother, and Bethany’s potential sister, Deborah Harley, and her two children. More research is needed to confirm if these people are indeed related to Bethany, but so far, it seems quite possible.

The list of deaths in the Almshouse only goes up to 1771, so if Bethany died there, there is probably no record. There are no other records of a Bethany Sergeant in all of Massachusetts during this time, so we believe that she is most likely our ancestor. There are no entries for Bethany’s other son, Samuel, being received into the Almshouse, nor an indenture record for him. Samuel would have been about 13 at the time, so it is likely that someone else must have taken him in. The family stories said that Samuel once worked for an Uncle Richardson, but we have not yet been able to tie that name to our family.

The poorhouse records also list entries for a “Samuel Sargent” who was received and discharged a couple times in 1788 (for two weeks) and in 1789 (for six months). It seems unlikely that Bethany would have ended up in the poorhouse if her husband had still been alive to take care of his family, so this “Samuel Sargent” could be an unrelated person. Or it could have been their son, Samuel, who would have been about 20 at the time.