San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JACOB PRESTON SARGENT, M. D.
Among the many notable families who
have lived in San Joaquin County, perhaps no one was more widely or favorably
known that the Sargent’s, and Dr. Jacob Preston
Sargent was a worthy representative of this pioneer family. A native Californian, he was born on the old
Sargent ranch in San Joaquin County, June 8, 1863, the son of Roswell C.
Sargent, more familiarly known as Ross Sargent.
The father was born in New Hampshire in 1821 and descended from sturdy
New England stock. His earlier years
were spent on the home farm, and when eighteen years of age he moved to Boston,
where for a short period he worked for wages, afterward engaging in the milk
business with his brother, J. P. Sargent.
In 1847 he went to Chicago and was the pioneer ice merchant of that
city. This enterprise he conducted for
about two years, and in 1849, in company with two of his brothers, J. L. and J.
P. Sargent, he started overland for California, arriving on October 13,
1849. For a year and a half they engaged
in mining, merchandising and teaming in Placerville, but in 1851 came to San
Joaquin County, preempted land and started farming. From that time he began increasing his
holdings by purchase and by reclamation of the rich overflowed land so that he
became one of the largest landholders in the county, his holdings reaching in
the neighborhood of 25,000 acres. Mr.
Sargent used up-to-date methods in farming and was notably successful. He invested heavily in different
manufacturing enterprises in the county and also in city property in
Stockton. As the years passed, these
holdings have grown enormously in value, and at the time of his death, June 15,
1902, he left an extremely valuable estate.
Mr. Sargent was popular with all classes of people. He was an unassuming man and always showed
great consideration for the rights of other people. Liberal and charitable to almost an excess,
it is not strange that his death caused genuine sorrow in the homes of a large
percentage of the people who knew and honored him. Mr. Sargent left two children, Jacob Preston,
the subject of this sketch, and Mrs. F. N. Vail, of San Francisco.
Jacob Preston Sargent began his
education in the district school in the vicinity of his home until fourteen
years of age, after which he went for three years to St. Matthew’s Hall at San
Mateo, and for the two succeeding years to a private institution in Napa
Valley. After this he attended for about
six months at the San Joaquin Valley College at Woodbridge. He then commenced attendance on medical
lectures at Cooper Medical College, San Francisco, remaining
two years. In the latter part of 1884 he
commenced at Bellevue Medical College, New York, and was graduated there May 4,
1886. He practiced in the out-door
department of Bellevue Hospital until the latter part of that year, when he
returned to California. After practicing
about three months in San Francisco, he went back to the ranch, and devoted his
entire attention to the management of the estate, the large interests absorbing
most of his time. At this time, the
Sargent ranch consists of 3,700 acres, of which 183 acres are in vineyard,
1,000 acres devoted to grain raising, 2,000 acres in pasture and some in
alfalfa. The vineyard is under the
Stockton-Mokelumne irrigation system.
On November 14, 1889, Dr. Sargent
was married at San Francisco to Miss Bettie Falk, a native of New York. Dr. Sargent passed away June 7, 1921. Highly esteemed among his many friends for
his social nature and genial disposition, he formed strong friendships by his
deference for the opinions of others and his kindly consideration.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
448-451. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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