Epes Sargent V: Sea Captain
Capt. Epes Sargent, Cephas G. Thompson. c 1820, located PPH Front Hall, oil on canvas.
Mary Otis Lincoln, Cephas G Thompson, c 1820, located PPH Front Hall, oil on canvas.
A collection of letters from the Sea Captain Epes Sargent V (1784-1853), were donated to the museum by Elizabeth Dyer Merrill. The majority of them are addressed to Sargent’s third wife, Mary Otis Lincoln Sargent (1795-1870). But there are a couple addressed to some of his children as well as a return letter from Mary to him.
Most of our knowledge about Epes Sargent V comes from another set of letters already in the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Family Papers, that give a first hand account of his life at sea. These new letters give some further insight into his family life. Epes Sargent was the fifth Epes born to the Sargent family originally from Gloucester Mass. He was orphaned at the age of five with his two sisters, Amelia Bernard and Frances, and from there they were raised in their grandfather Foster’s home. Sargent then took after his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather in becoming a ship owner. After suffering some losses in a business venture with his brother in law John Barker in the late 1810’s, Epes took to the sea in his brig ‘Romulus’ and later the ship ‘Volga’. In the 1820’s he made four trips to St. Petersburg, Russia, most of his letters to Mary were addressed from there or Copenhagen. Mary and Epes married in 1821, having met through his children, as they went to Derby Academy in Hingham where she taught. Her father Abner Lincoln was the first Preceptor of the academy.
(Portrait of Hannah Dane Sargent Huntington, located in Bishop’s Study)
Together Epes and Mary had five more children to add to the first five from Epes’s second marriage. Their daughter Hannah Dane Sargent, named after his second wife, married Frederic Dan Huntington, tying together the Sargent and Huntington families.
In his letters Sargent comes across as having been a very loving and devoted husband and father.
“I feel an assurance My Love that you will never have cause to regret your having bestowed your affections on me, mine believe me is not a light and momentary passion but a pure and solid affection- Love founded on the firm basis of regard for your inestimable goodness, in you my Dear Mary I am fully confident I have indeed a bosom friend, and my children the best of mothers- I shall feel anxious for the happy day to arrive when I shall be permitted in deed and in health to call you mine-...”
Epes Sargent V to Mary Otis Lincoln, May 26th 1821
Epes was constantly asking after everyone’s health and remarking how he wished to be home with his family. Considering that both of his previous wives died, it seems he was anxious to spend time with his family just as they wished to have him home. Between his and Mary’s letters it also becomes clear that even though he was at sea on his ship, Mary and the children were able to watch for him with a spyglass, and discern his figure onboard the ship when he was in or close to port. This spyglass was given to the museum by David M.G. Huntington and is still on display as part of the collection today!
“Will it afford my dear Husband any pleasure to know how narrowly he has been watched this day? Believe me when I say it has to me been a day of trial that I hope not soon to be made sensible of again- the spy-glass has not been taken from my eye but for a short time, and then only that I might see our little ones made comfortable, or to give others an opportunity to catch a glimpse of their Fathers form. Which we could plainly distinguish from all others;...”
Mary O.L. Sargent to Epes Sargent, June 12th 1823
While the family was living in Boston in the early 1820’s, these letters also include the Sargent’s search for a house elsewhere. Before leaving for St. Petersburg aboard his ship the “Romulus”, Epes spent time engaging with Mr. Hatersons about taking over his home. While in St. Petersburg, he remarked that Mary would have to handle the move by herself as he wouldn’t be home in time to help. Over the years the family moved four more times, they tried living on a farm in Milton Mass. but moved back to Boston after a short time and then to Western Avenue and Roxbury.
As Epes spent more time abroad he was enjoying it less and less. A common theme in his letters is that the markets often are not good for him, causing a loss of profit, and that he is tired of being away from home for such a large part of the year. He doesn’t go into huge detail about his trips themselves, but rather focuses on sharing his love for his wife, and addressing each of his children with interest in how they are growing and learning.
Epes Sargent VI, attributed to C. Harding, Date Unknown, located PPH Dining Hall, oil on canvas.
In the summer of 1828, Sargent took his third son, Epes Sargent VI along with him to Russia. In his letter to Mary, he remarks that he wished he had more free time to go about the city with his son, but that his friends there were entertaining the fifteen year old, and would even have Epes leave him there, something he didn’t seem inclined to consider!
The younger Epes did not take to the sea like his father, and instead pursued a career in writing, becoming an Editor of the Boston Evening Transcript and writing plays and poems as well. See this post for more information on Epes VI!
After his fourth trip to St. Petersburg, it seems that Epes finally got to spend more time with his family as he wished. Epes died at his Roxbury home on April 19th 1853.