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Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant (1746 – October 8, 1793) was an American lawyer from
Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of w ...
. He represented
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
in the
Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...
in 1776 and 1777. He later served as Attorney General for the state of
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.


Life and career

Sergeant was born in 1746 in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...
, the son of Abigail (Dickinson) and Jonathan Sergeant. He moved with his parents to Princeton. He completed his initial studies and attended the College of New Jersey (now
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
), receiving his degree in 1762. His maternal grandfather,
Jonathan Dickinson Jonathan Dickinson (1663–1722) was a merchant from Port Royal, Jamaica who was shipwrecked on the southeast coast of Florida in 1696, along with his family and the other passengers and crew members of the ship. The party was held captive by Job ...
, had been the first president of the college at its founding in 1747. After Sergeant's graduation from the College of Philadelphia (now the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
) in 1763 with an A.B. degree, he read for the law and entered practice in Princeton in 1767. From 1774 to 1776 he was a member of the revolutionary New Jersey Provincial Congress. In early 1776 he went as a delegate to the Continental Congress, but he resigned in June to return home and serve on the committee that drafted New Jersey's first constitution. In November he returned again to the national congress. In September 1777 he resigned from Congress a second time, this time to accept office as the attorney general of Pennsylvania. He permanently moved to
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
and opened a law practice there on his return to private life in 1780. In 1784, he was elected a member of the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. Sergeant died in Philadelphia in 1793 and was originally buried in the Old Presbyterian Churchyard at Fourth and Pine Streets. In 1878, he was re-interred in the Laurel Hill Cemetery. His son John Sergeant later represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Congress. Another son,
Thomas Sergeant Thomas Sergeant (January 14, 1782 – May 8, 1860) was a Pennsylvania lawyer, judge, and politician. He served as Secretary of State, Attorney General, and as an associate justice of the state Supreme Court. Biography and career Sergeant and ...
, served as Pennsylvania secretary of state, attorney general and on the state Supreme Court.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sergeant, Jonathan 1746 births 1793 deaths People of colonial New Jersey Politicians from Newark, New Jersey Lawyers from Philadelphia People from Princeton, New Jersey Princeton University alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Continental Congressmen from New Jersey 18th-century American politicians New Jersey lawyers Pennsylvania lawyers Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Lawyers from Newark, New Jersey