Background
He was born on October 28, 1827 in Newburyport, Massachussets, United States, son of Aaron Peaslee and Elizabeth (Stanwood) Flanders Sargent. He was a descendant of William Sargent who was in Ipswich, Massachussets, as early as 1633.
(Excerpt from Agricultural College: Address of Hon. A.A. S...)
Excerpt from Agricultural College: Address of Hon. A.A. Sargent, Delivered Before the State Agricultural Society, September 21, 1865 By the report of the State surveyor-general of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, it is shown that of all the grants of land to this State for various purposes, not a single acre of any description has been listed or patented to the State, although all the duties required of the State officers have been zealously performed for fourteen years, and very much of the land has been sold by the State. Notwithstanding frequent attempts of the State Legislature to remedy the difficulty, and equita ble decisions of our Supreme Court, the titles of nine thousand citizens, pioneer purchasers, are in an inchoate state, subject to attack, a frequent source of litigation, and consequent distress and poverty. The pres perity of the State must be greatly damaged by this unsettled, uncertain condition of titles, for thrif'tlessness must result. The only remedy is further legislation by Congress to compel the subordinate officers at Washington to comply with the terms of donation, and rescue the titles of our farmers from embarrassing uncertainty. I am not hopeful that the State can realize for many years to come any substantial benefits from the grant of one hundred and fifty thousand acres for an agricul tural college. The public lands heretofore ceded to the State for specific purposes must first be segregated, and the titles granted by the State in good faith he recognized by the Government. The remainder must be surveyed and brought into market. Such portions as then fail to find purchasers will be subject to private entry, and will be available under the college grant for what they are. Worth. The lands granted for the purposes of this college will thus be the very last in the State upon which there can be anything realized and nothing can be expected from this source for a long time to come. Yet by the Act we are required to establish the college within five years from the passage of the Act, or we shall forfeit the donation. The next Legislature must take therequisite steps for this purpose, or we lose whatever advantages may be derived' from the grant. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
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journalist lawyer politician statesman
He was born on October 28, 1827 in Newburyport, Massachussets, United States, son of Aaron Peaslee and Elizabeth (Stanwood) Flanders Sargent. He was a descendant of William Sargent who was in Ipswich, Massachussets, as early as 1633.
After attending the common schools, he was apprenticed to a cabinet maker for a short time, and then learned the printer's trade.
In Washington he became secretary to a member of Congress. In December 1849 he went to California, and for a time found employment in the freight-carrying business between San Francisco and Stockton. In 1850 he was on the Sacramento Placer Times, but soon moved to Nevada City, Cal. , and became a compositor on the Daily Journal.
Returning to San Francisco, he was compositor on the Placer Times and Transcript and the Alta California, but soon went back to Nevada City, and not long after bought the Daily Journal. As editor and manager, he conducted this paper as a Whig organ.
In 1854 he was admitted to the bar. He was nominated for the California assembly by the new American Party in 1852, and from that time he seems to have been dominated by a consuming political ambition which quite subordinated his career as a lawyer.
In 1855-56 he served as district attorney for Nevada County, and in 1857 was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the attorney-generalship. In 1860 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, and was elected representative in Congress, serving from 1861 to 1863.
At the end of his term, Sargent unsuccessfully sought his party's nomination for the governorship, and then resumed the practice of law. In 1867, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate, and in 1868 and 1870 was reelected to the House of Representatives. After a bitter campaign, he succeeded, in 1872, in supplanting Cornelius Cole as United States senator.
In the Senate, Sargent was a member of the committees on naval affairs, mines and mining, and appropriations. He successfully opposed the nomination by President Grant of Caleb Cushing to be chief justice of the Supreme Court. At the close of his senatorial term in 1879, Sargent again returned to his law practice.
Returning to California, he soon became the Republican candidate for election to the Senate. The Republican legislative caucus, however, unexpectedly nominated Leland Stanford, and he was elected. Stanford and Sargent had been close friends and this apparent treachery came as a blow from which the latter never recovered.
He died in San Francisco and was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery.
He was the author of the first Pacific Railroad Act that was passed in Congress. Besides, Sargent introduced the 29 words that would later become the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, allowing women the right to vote. He was active in the organization of the Republican party in California, and for some years was a member of the party's state executive committee. Later he was United States Ambassador to Germany.
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
(Excerpt from Agricultural College: Address of Hon. A.A. S...)
Sargent was a noted proponent of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, arguing in Overland Monthly in support of exclusion and for the renewal of the 1882 Exclusion Act after its expiration in 1892.
Sargent was a man of strong and forceful personality, aggressive in political contests, untiring and persevering in pursuit of his ends. He was a good German scholar, well read on all political topics, and an able debater. He spoke with great rapidity.
Quotes from others about the person
Memoirs of Cornelius Cole: "His volubility was manifest both in tongue and pen"
On Mar. 14, 1852, he was married to Ellen Clark; his widow, a son, and two daughters survived him.
