Ignatius Sargent

Ignatius Sargent (January 20, 1800 – August 18, 1884)[3] was a merchant, banker, railroad executive, philanthropist, and horticulturalist who was best known for his contributions to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and for being one of the Boston Associates who founded Lawrence and Holyoke, Massachusetts.[4][5][6] Among his posts, he was president of the Globe Bank of Boston for 28 years, and remained a director there for nearly 50. He also served as a dirctor of the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company, the first Hadley Falls Company, the Boston and Albany Railroad, and the Connecticut River Railroad.[6][7] After retiring as a merchant, he spent his time after 1840 at a large farm in Brookline where he spent his time cultivating flowers and other plants, contributing to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's exhibitions. With his wealth he funded $500 a year to support botanist Asa Gray so that he could devote "undivided attention" to completing his volume Flora of America.[8] His interest in horticultural is credited with inspiring his son Charles Sprague Sargent, the first director of Harvard's Arnold Arboretum, to pursue his own career in that field.[9]

Ignatius Sargent
Ignatius Sargent c. 1856
Born(1800-01-20)January 20, 1800
Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States
DiedAugust 18, 1884(1884-08-18) (aged 84)
Brookline, Massachusetts, United States
NationalityAmerican
Known forHorticulturalist, namesake of Ignatius Sargent Rhododendron[1]
Spouse(s)
Sarah Charlotte Gray
​
​
(m. 1828)​
[2]
Henrietta Gray
​
(m. 1835)​
[2]
Children
  • Sarah Ellery Sargent (1829-1852)
  • Ignatius Sargent (1836-1844)
  • Henrietta Gray Sargent (1838-1923)
  • Charles Sprague Sargent (1841-1927)

References
  1. "Rhododenron 'Ignatius Sargent'". American Rhododendron Society. 2023.
  2. Sheppard, John H. (1871). Reminiscences of Lucius Manlius Sargent with an Appendix Containing A Genealogy of His Family, and Other Matters. Boston: David Clapp & Son. p. 34.
  3. The Essex Institute Historical Collections. Vol. LII. Salem, Mass. 1916. p. 124.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. Harper, Wyatt E. (1973). The Story of Holyoke. Centennial Committee of the City of Holyoke. p. 33. OCLC 8060402.
  5. "Lawrence History Timeline – Lawrence History Center". Lawrencehistory.org.
  6. "Ignatius Sargent". The Gardeners' Monthly. Philadelphia: Charles H. Marot. October 1884. pp. 318–319.
  7. Report of the History and Present Condition of the Hadley Falls Company at Holyoke, Massachusetts. Boston: The Hadley Falls Company. 1853.
  8. Dupree, A. Hunter (1988). Asa Gray, American Botanist, Friend of Darwin. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 348–349. ISBN 978-0-8018-3741-8.
  9. Marx, Walter H. (August 13, 1993). "Ignatius Sargent and the Arnold Arboretum". Jamaica Plain Historical Society. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
External image
image icon "House of Ignatius Sargent now owned by Samuel Mixter", June 1905, Public Library of Brookline via Digital Commonwealth
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