Nathaniel Sargent

Once when Crosby’s new Southern teacher was boarding at the Lewis home, she was appalled that a Negro was seated at the same table. She asked Mrs. Lewis if it was necessary that she sit at the table with Nat. Mrs. Lewis said, “No, you can eat in the kitchen if you’d like.”

Young Samuel Alexander Olanie got lost in the woods. The community searched for him and when nightfall came, the boy was given up for dead. Nat continued his search throughout the night, and the following morning arrived at the Olanie home with the boy in hand.

He had a sense of humor, too. Once a young Lewis grandchild was visiting and Nat arrived. The young girl took his hand and turned it over and over, then looked up at him and said, “Mr. Sargent, you better go home and take a bath.” He laughed heartily and never forgot the little girl who had never seen a black man before.

He returned to his home in the East one year to seek a bride, but returned home empty-handed. He filled his lonely hours by writing poetry (which was published) and oil painting. Until four years before his death, he would walk over the hills to Bremerton and back again in one day. In 1894, he was elected Justice of the Peace at Seabeck. He also donated land for a school in the Seabeck-Crosby area.

Nathaniel Sargent died in 1954. Everyone from Crosby showed up for his funeral, and one of the funeral directors said, “I thought this was supposed to be a black funeral.” It wasn’t a well received comment.