It’s History Trivia Tuesday!
Historic Jacksonville shares tidbits from Jacksonville history every Tuesday on our Facebook and Instagram pages. “Like” us on Facebook at Historic Jacksonville (historicjville) or “follow” us on Instagram (historicjacksonville) and enjoy our tales and stories of the people and places that made Jacksonville the major hub of southern Oregon in the late 1800s. And visit the Southern Oregon Historical Society Library and Archives for access to the historical images included in our posts.
Did you know that Alice Applegate Sargent was the first American woman to receive a full military funeral? Her name should sound familiar. She was the daughter of Lindsey Applegate, who with his brother Jesse, created the Applegate Trail.
Alice led an unconventional life. After growing up in the toll house on the first toll road over the Siskiyous, she married Herbert Howland Sargent, a newly commissioned West Point graduate. As a military wife, she accompanied Herbert on all his assignments–forts, teaching positions, and active war duty in Cuba and the Philippines during the Spanish American War. Herbert by then was Col. Sargent. He authored 3 highly acclaimed books on military science and became friends with Theodore Roosevelt. Alice chronicled her experiences in a memoir, ‘Following the Flag.”
In 1911 the Sargents temporarily retired to Medford and became active in civic affairs. Herbert served as a Medford City Councilor, Alice as head of the Republican Club. Then World War 1 recalled Herbert to active duty, and Alice, of course, followed him.
After the War, the Sargents retired to Jacksonville, becoming the 2nd owners of the Nunan House. They called it Casa Grande. They again became involved in civic affairs.
In 1920, Herbert led the initial attempt to stop the Jackson County seat’s being moved from Jacksonville to Medford, but it proved to be a Pyrrhic victory. He died in 1921 so did not live to see it come to pass in 1927. Herbert was buried in the Jacksonville Cemetery with full military honors. Alice had the stone wall along Cemetery Road built in his memory.
When Alice joined her husband in the Jacksonville Cemetery in 1934, her years of service were also recognized by the Army. The Spanish American and “Great War” veterans gave her a full military funeral—the first such rites ever accorded a woman.