Isaac Sargent's Last Will and Testament, 1913

 

Isaac Bradbury Sargent, Manufacturer

Born October 1840 North Tamerton, Cornwall, England

Died  April 19, 1913, London, Ontario, Canada

The five pages below are certified copies of Isaac Sargent's will originally dated October 23, 1908, five years before his death.

Sons John, James and Albert, are named as the will's executors, noted as "manufacturers" as they had worked along side their father in the family business.

William Sargent, son is to receive $10 per week during the term of his natural life. William was afflicted with epilepsy and ultimately succumbs to the disease in 1920 at the age of 50 in the Woodstock Hospital for Epileptics.

The brothers are directed to pay their sister Elizabeth Flood $500.00 per annum without interest for 10 years following Isaac's death.

"All the business as now carried on, all the assets, book debts...including the real estate held by me in connection with the...business". As we know Isaac owned and operated his plaining mill on the corner of King and Adelaide streets from about 1884 eventually called Sargent & Sons.

The will lists the below properties owned by Isaac:

• 2 brick cottages at 594 & 596 King Street.
• 2 double framed houses at 379, 381, 383, 385 Adelaide Street (these I believe to be semi-detached or duplex homes).
• The mill and mill site.
• The machinery plant and equipment.
• 905 Dufferin Ave.

Note that the location of the Mill and the above properties have all since been destroyed. Today London Police Headquarters stands on the site, more specifically the parking lot area.

"The sons shall not dispose of the mill and mill site without making provision and securing the payment of the weekly sum of $10 weekly to their brother William...and the sum of $5000.00 in 10 equal installments to their sister Elizabeth Flood".

The will goes on to make provision for Elizabeth to choose between two homes. "If Elizabeth releases her interest in the property 590 King Street then I bequeath her my property at 905 Dufferin Ave". From census records Elizabeth is living at 590 King Street with her husband George Flood, and 4 children during this time. By the 1921 census the Flood family is found living at 630 York Street a property not mentioned in the will, Elizabeth and her husband may have lived at either of the said properties and eventually chosen to move to York Street, not far from Adelaide and King. 

The residual and remainder of Isaac's property real and personal is to be divided equally between his 5 children.

"If the 3 sons who inherit the mill and business decide not to enter into an agreement or partnership then any share of the business in the absence of an agreement shall pass to their children."

It isn't difficult to understand the depth of Isaac's business and property from his will, 7 properties are listed as well as the planing mill and it's associated equity. Isaac had done extremely well for himself, after arriving in Canada 44 years earlier. 

To better understand the value of the inheritance you can use an inflationary convertor to gauge the contemporary value of Elizabeth's inheritance and it looks like this:

$500.00 per year = $11,262.00 today

$5000.00 lumpsum = $112,622.00 today

https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/

Did Elizabeth receive one quarter or one fifth the value of her father's estate, or just a lump sum value that her father thought was fair. Isaac's estate appears to have been substantial, although it's unclear what happened to the wealth as it passed through to the next generation. 

 

In previous posts I have shared some of the fire insurance plans for the King and Adelaide area showing the Sargent & Sons Planing Mill. I have included the 1915 plan below. King Street is along the right side and Adelaide along the top. You can see the homes listed from the will, 379, 381, 383, 385 Adelaide in yellow and 590, 594 and 596 King Street on the right side.

By 1922 fire insurance plans show that the business and mill cease to exist.

796 Dufferin Avenue - Sargent Family Home

 According to Ontario land registry documents, the Sargent family purchased Lot 31 of city plan 416 on Dufferin Ave in 1897. Sometime between then and 1904 the home was constructed. John Sargent took ownership of the property in September 1897 and paid $275.00 for the property with a mortgage of  $100.00 registered to Reverend Edward English (then principal of Hellmuth Ladies College 1883-1899) the grandson of the original land owner Nobel English. 

The English family came to the London area by about 1818 and purchased land from Colonel Talbot amounting to about 200 acres just north of Governor's Road (Dundas St). As the City of London grew, so did London East eventually being annexed by larger City in 1885. 

The English survey streets were named for the family, Elizabeth for Nobel's wife and his sons, Elias, Timothy (Lorne), Franklin (Dufferin) and Lyman (Princess). The English family home was located at 470 English a modestly larger home with a deep lot placing it in the centre of the block.

This part of east London, known today as Old East Village has a long, proud and varied merchant, and working class history. John and Rachel were joining others in the area who had reasonable success as business owners or craftsmen.

John's boyhood home stood only a few blocks away just west of Adelaide at 594 King Street, and so the new homes being built in the English survey were likely an easy choice for the family.

After Rachel and John were married in 1893 they lived at a number of other homes in the area before finally coming to 796 Dufferin including:

1895 - 435 Ontario Street - John Jr. is likely  born here 1894

1897-1899 - 661 Lorne Avenue - James and Irene are born here in 1896 & 1899

1900 -  713 Elias Street - Lillian is born here in 1900

1905 - 796 Dufferin Avenue - Ernest b. 1903 & Frederick b. 1905

The above dates are from various city directories from the time and can be reasonably relied upon. The published year is usually an account of the previous years occupants depending on the publication.

Below are two photographs taken in front of the home, you can see the original details quite well. 

Rachel Sargent circa 1935 outside 796 Dufferin Avenue.

Irene Sargent, circa 1920 outside Dufferin family home. Irene married Alfred Thompson in 1923, this photograph could have been taken around that time.

Below is an image from Google street view of the home in 2014. You can see the porch remains intact, although the railing and wood panels below are different. There is an arched stained-glass window with decorative coloured brick on the main level. The home also maintains it's original Victorian style wood details on the gable peak, consistent with other similar homes nearby. 

The Old East Village community has affixed a number of homes in the neighborhood with the original owners names. You can just make it out in the image below, hanging on the right side of the porch is a sign that reads "1914 John Sargent, Carpenter". Although I can date ownership of the home to the family by 1897 and their residence there by 1904, I am not certain where the 1914 date originates.

This land registry document extract shows the date that John takes ownership of the property. The second entry is a B&S, meaning a bargain and sale occurred on September 29, 1897 and the grantee is listed as John Sargent.

Below is the fire insurance plan for 1892 with revision done in 1907, here is the first time a home is represented on the plan. Although it doesn't appear completed. This unfortunately does not help clarifying the date of when the home became occupied. 

The below plan is dated 1912 with revision done in 1922, here 796 Dufferin is clearly indicated, 2 story detached, brick home. with a 1 story wood extension and a garage for 1 auto.

John Sargent died in 1939, and Rachel continued to live in the home until the mid 1950s preceding her death at the age of 91 in 1961. The family of 8 enjoyed many years in this home, including the birth of the last two children, marriages for five of the six children and subsequent grandchildren. In 1916 John Jr. was bravely sent off to fight in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was welcomed home safely in 1919. Sadly in 1930, the youngest child Frederic or Freddie as he was called died of Influenza at age of 25 at home. 

Fire Insurance Plans for London can be found at: 

https://www.lib.uwo.ca/madgic/fips.html