Winthrop Sargent (May 1, 1753 – June 3, 1820) was an American politician, military officer and writer, who served as Governor of Mississippi Territory from 1798 to 1801, and briefly as acting Adjutant General of the U. S. Army in 1791.

He was with his guns at the siege of Boston, and later served in the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth.

[7] Sargent was appointed by the Congress of the Confederation as the first Secretary of the Northwest Territory, a post second in importance only to the governor, Arthur St. Clair.

Like St. Clair, Sargent would function in both civil and military capacities; he served as acting Adjutant General of U.S. Army from September 1791 until he was wounded twice at the Battle of the Wabash, on November 4, 1791.

[7][8] On August 15, 1796, he would, as Acting Governor, proclaim the establishment of Wayne County, the first American government in what is now Michigan.

[8] Being a Federalist, Sargent was dismissed from his position as territorial governor of Mississippi in 1801 by incoming president Thomas Jefferson.

Sargent took up life in the private sector, developing his plantation Gloucester,[14] the earliest such establishment in Natchez.

[23] Some of the properties of Winthrop Sargent were passed through the Natchez David Williams family who arrived in the 1700s according to Supreme Court case.

This township apparently ceased to function after the organization of Michigan Territory, being replaced by the District of Erie.