Nathaniel J. Sargent

Nathaniel J. Sargent (July 4, 1863 – August 16, 1954) was a Black pioneer in Washington who settled in Kitsap County.

Sargent moved to Kitsap County, Washington in 1882, making money as a lumberjack and a rancher.

[2][4] He had initially intended to homestead in Oregon, but the state's Jim Crow laws prevented him from doing so.

[1][2] Over the course of his life, Sargent built up a 248-acre ranch, eventually giving some of the land away to found a school.

The body of water had been known by the derogatory name "Negro Slough" through the 1990s, later being renamed "Grass Lake.