CRAWFORD COUNTY, GA - Bios William J. Dent


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William J. Dent

William J. Dent, farmer, Knoxville, Crawford County, Georgia, son of John W. and Elizabeth (Hoy) Dent, was born in Bibb County, Georgia, in 1841. His paternal grandfather was William Dent. He was of Scoth-Irish descent, was born in South Carolina, and was a prosperous farmer. Mr. Dent's father was born in South Carolina and migrated to Tennessee and then to Georgia in 1838 and settled in Bibb County. Subsequently he moved to Crawford County where he remained the rest of his life. His life pursuit was farming, but he served the county as a justice of the inferior court and as a justice of the peace, and was a captain of the militia when it was a coveted local distinction. Mr. Dent's maternal great-grandfather, Quinton Hoy, was born in England, and came to Georgia in the first quarter of this century and settled in what is now Bibb County, where he made his permanent home. His maternal grandfather, James Hoy, was a Bibb County pioneer, and owned land where the city of Macon now stands. He was a farmer and large land owner and was a soldier in the Indian War of 1836. Mr. Dent was raised on the farm and received a country common school education. About the time he reached manhood, the Civil War commenced. In 1862, he enlisted in Company K (Capt. Gibson, later Capt. William Rutherford), Forty-fifth Georgia Regiment, and went to the front. He participated in many battles, notably the seven days' fight around Richmond and second Manassas. After this last named battle he was taken sick, and on his recovery was transferred to the calvary service and fought all through the Atlanta Campaign. On the close of the war, he returned to his farm. Starting a life with little or nothing he has so judiciously managed and so invested as to acquire quite a large estate and attain to honorable prominence and wide influence. He was County Commissioner eight years, and was on the Board of Education nine years. Mr. Dent was married in 1860 to Miss. Jane Davis - born in 1839 - daughter of G. L. and Mary (Chambliss) Davis. He was born in Bibb County, was a farmer all his life, served in the Indian War of 1836, and lived in the county of his birth until he died. To this marriage, eight children were born. Walter B., Ida, John W., Gardner L., Mary P., Safronia E., Sarah J., and Hoy. Mrs. Dent, who was an exemplary member of the Baptist Church, died in 1887. Mr. Dent in 1887 contracted a second marriage with Miss. Anna Dixon - born in Crawford County in 1855 - daughter of Thomas and Mary J. (Hicks) Dixon. Mr. Dixon was born in Bibb County, Georgia, and moved to Crawford County where he married and raised his family. He was a mill-wright by trade, and after he enlisted during the war, he was detailed to service in the machine shops. Mrs. Dent was a member of the Methodist Church and he was a member of the Masonic Fraternity.

Transcribed by Kim Gordon

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