Sergeant, John, 1779-1852
The Honorable John Sergeant was born on December 5, 1779 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Continental Congressman Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant and Margaret Spencer. He graduated from Princeton University in 1795, became a lawyer and was admitted to the bar in 1799. He served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives before being elected as a Federalist to the U.S. House of Representatives where he served three different times, first for the 1st District and then, as a National Republican for the 2nd District, then as a Whig for the 2nd District. He ran as Henry Clay’s Vice-Presidential Running Mate in the 1832 election, but lost to Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. He married Margaretta Watmough on June 23, 1813. They had ten children, all but one living to adulthood. John Sergeant died on November 23, 1852 and is interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.