General Notes

"Probably the most famous member of the Coles County Sargent family was the artist, Paul Turner Sargent.  He was born, July 23, 1880, on the family homestead in Hutton Township and died there, Feb. 7, 1946.  He had gone down the road to eat supper with his younger brother, Sam, and his wife and had returned to the home place.  He went into the kitchen and when he didn't come back out, his brother john went in to find him sitting upright in a kitchen chair, dead of a heart attack.  He is buried in Roselawn Cemetery with a natural stone from Hutton Township (the Oren Goble Farm) marking his final resting place.

"Paul was educated in the rural schools and in a private school on his parent's farm, which was taught by one of his father's half-brothers.  In 1899 he attended Westfield College, Westfield, IL.  He and his brother John came to Charleston and attended Eastern Illinois State Normal School, where they graduated in 1906.

"Then, from 1906 and 1912, Paul attended the Chicago Art Institute, where he studied under the supervision of John Henry Vanderpoel, Henry Wood Stevens, and Charles Francis Browne.  As a private instructor in painting, Paul Turner Sargent inspired many local artists, including Iva Lucretia Ashby, Matyl (Beavers) Manhart, Jennie Cell, and Nora Handwerk.  He taught landscape painting during the summer sessions at Eastern from 1938 through 1941 and in 1942, taught an extension course in painting at Eastern.

"His work is included in several collections: The Art Institute, Chicago; the University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN; Sheldon Swope Art Gallery, Terre Haute, IN; Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL; The Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn MI; and numerous private collections, many in Coles County. Eastern Illinois University owns at least 30 original Sargent works.

"Sargent is reputed to have finished over 10,000 visual statements during his lifetime.  He traveled widely throughout the United States, recording what he saw and loved on canvas.  He was a very avid reader, stressing history over fiction --- 'get the facts,' he would tell a nephew."  Submitted by David Kent Coy.  Source:  COLES COUNTY, ILLINOIS HISTORY 1876 - 1976, p. 77.