Biographical Sketch of Mark W. Dent, Washington County, Missouri >From "History of Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Crawford and Gasconade Counties", Biographical Appendix, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1888. ********************************************************************** Mark W. Dent, one of the old settlers of this part of the State, came from Franklin County, Va., to what was then Ste. Genevieve County, Mo., in 1811. He was born in Maryland, and when a young boy was taken to Virginia. There he married a Miss Ferguson, who bore him three child- ren, for the youngest of whom, Louis, Dent County was named. After coming to this State Mr. Dent married Mrs. Nancy Cooley, nee Garrett, a native of Virginia. After marriage they settled near Farmington, and, without moving, lived successively in these counties: Ste. Gene- vieve, Washington and St. Francois. He served as a soldier in the Black Hawk War, and for many years served as justice of the peace. He was a Whig in politics, and died in his sixty-fourth year. The mother lived to be several years older. To the second marriage of Mr. Dent were born four children, three sons and a daughter. The third of the children, Cyrus, was born in St. Francois County, in 1825, where he was reared and educated in the old subscription schools. In 1852 he married Mahala J. Sherrill, a native of Georgia, who bore him six children, four now living. Her death occurred in 1866, and the follow- ing year Mr. Dent married Mrs. Sallie A. Johnson, who had four children by her first husband. To the second marriage were born five children, only one, a son, now living. In 1867 Mr. Dent and family came to this county and settled on the farm where he now lives, which consists of 700 acres. He is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Masonic fraternity. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Joe Miller Penny Harrell ====================================================================