Introduction

Nathan was the son of Ed­mund Sar­gent, Jr., and Bet­sey Jones Gile, and hus­band of Ca­ther­ine Barnes Hun­kins.

He at­tend­ed the At­kin­son Acad­emy in New Hamp­shire, in pre­pa­ra­tion for col­lege, but his health did not al­low him to at­tend col­lege. In­stead, he at­tend­ed a pre­pa­ra­to­ry school in Law­rence, Mas­sa­chu­setts, and stu­died lang­uages in the summer. Much lat­er, Dart­mouth Col­lege in Han­over, New Hamp­shire, award­ed him a Master of Arts de­gree.

Sargent be­gan his ca­reer teach­ing in Me­thu­en, then at a pri­vate school in Ha­ver­hill, Mas­sa­chu­setts.

In 1866, he moved to Man­chester-by-the Sea, where he lat­er be­came the se­cond prin­ci­pal of the J. Ty­ler Bark­er Free School (al­so known as the Bark­er Free Acad­emy) in West Box­ford, Mas­sa­chu­setts. The school, which op­er­at­ed 1883–1919, was found­ed Jon­athan Ty­ler Bark­er (1804–1872).

Sargent re­tired from the Bark­er Free School in 1907. While in Box­ford, he al­so played the or­gan at the Se­cond Con­gre­ga­tion­al Church.

Works

Sargent is said to have writ­ten ov­er 200 songs. His oth­er works in­clude:

• The Hour of Song (New York & Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chusetts: Leach, Shew­ell & San­born, 1892)
• The For­est Ju­bi­lee Band, an op­er­et­ta (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Ol­iv­er Dit­son, 1887)
• The Jol­ly Farm­ers, an op­er­et­ta
• The Dear Old Farm