Eliphalet was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts in 1749, the second born in a larger family. Amesbury is in the very northeast part of Massachusetts and near the New Hampshire border. His father was Enoch Sargent and his mother was Sarah Hoyt. They were both born in Amesbury and they married there in 1746.

Around 1760 the family moved to New Hampshire where Eliphalet met Deborah and they married in Goffstown about 1768. From what I can determine they had but two children: Daniel, born about 1769, and Anna, born in 1776.

This was a very troubling time in the British colonies with American independence and the Revolutionary War right around the corner. Eliphalet was called into military service in April of 1775 as a private in the minute men. They were called Minute Men because they were free to continue their normal lives but had to be ready for duty on a vary short (minutes) notice. Some report the Eliphalet died in 1776 while on military duty. This seems quite possible given that there is no record of his burial and there were no more children born into the family after 1776.

No one has been able to come up with a surname for Eliphalet's wife. With two young children, there is little doubt that Deborah remarried, but no evidence has been found about Deborah after 1776.