woman, daughter of an officer of the English
army, then stationed at HaUfax, N.S. After
his death his widow with her six children re-
moved to the paternal home in Concord, Mass.,
where the youngest son, Jonas Philip, the
father of Mrs. Talbot, was educated.
On becoming of age Jonas P. Lee went to
Maine, entering into business in the town
of Hallowell. He married Annie, daughter
of Oliver Otis, of Leeds, Me. At the age of
eighteen years Mr. Otis went from his native
place, Scituate, Mass., and purchased land in
Maine, cutting down the original forest. He
married Elizabeth Stanchfield, and they reared
a family of seven children to habits of indus-
try and respectability. Always a stanch total
abstainer from alcoholic liciuors, in making
his preparations for building the first framed
house in that section of the country, Mr. Otis
was obliged to drive to Boston with horse antl
carriage, a journey of several days, to obtain
supplies for the raising. Instead of providing
New England rum, as was the custom on such
occasions, he furnished the best of Java coffee,
a rare treat in those days. Total abstinence
from all intoxicants was conscientiously exem-
plified in his family, resulting in a God-fearing,
intelligent commimity to this day.
After their marriage Jonas P. Lee and his wife Annie resided in Hallowell. Their daugh- ter Sarah E. was educated in the excellent schools of that town, remaining there till her marriage, October 14, 1851, to Francis Taft Sargent, a merchant of New York City, and who was directly descended from Governor Winthrop, the first Governor of Massachusetts, and for whom one of their sons was named, being given the family name of Winthrop Otis Sargent. Mr. and Mrs. Sargent made their home in Brooklyn, and united with the Pres- byterian church of that city. Two children were born to them there, and their first great grief came in the death of their beautiful and most interesting daughter at two years of age. On account of the ill health of Mr. Sar- gent, after five years' residence in Brooklyn they removed to Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas. Three sons were added to their family in Nassau, and for a time health seemed restored in that salubrious climate; but the seeds of death still lingered, and Mr. Sargent died suddenly, September 20, 1860, of hem- orrhage of the lungs. After his death the widow, with her four little ones, returned to her native land, arriving in New York on the day of the first battle of Bull Run, when our Northern men met for the first time their Southern brothers in mortal combat and were defeated. Mrs. Sargent with her children went immediately to Farmington, Me., where dear kinsfolk welcomed her to the new home. When her two younger sons passed on to the Father in heaven, she went with their precious remains to lay them beside the dearly beloved in Greenwood Cemetery, in Brooklyn, N.Y., expecting her brother, Colonel Samuel Perry Lee, to meet her there. As he could not leave his post of duty with the Army of the Potomac at this most critical period of the war, when the rebels were threatening Wa*shington, with only three miles between the two armies, he requested his sister with her son to visit him. She went inmiediately to Washington, to find it one vast hospital, with one hundred thou- sand sick and wounded soldiers in and around the city, the Capitol itself being crowded. As she was informed by a friend, one of the prin- cipal medical directors of the army, the Patent Office and public buildings, all the churches, and many temporary hospitals were filled with the sick and dying. We had had very few battles, but for many months our army had besieged Richmond, the redel capital, encamp- ing in and near the dreadful Chickahominy swamps, filled with malaria, destroying the health of our soldiers, throwing out of combat thousands more than the most fiercely con- tested battles, as the Southerners well under- stood. While in Washington, Mrs. Sargent witnessed a review of this same Army of the Potomac, with its decimated ranks and worn and faded uniforms, in evidence of their sad experience and in contrast with the multitude of new recruits, full of patriotism and strength, who were being constantly hurried forward to fill the places of those who had fallen in defence of our beloved country.
Her brother. Colonel Samuel Perry Lee, was afterward terribly wounded at Gettysburg, losing his right arm at the shoulder joint, and
