Bios: Col. John M. Kent, 1836-aft 1888: Greene County

Contributed to USGenWeb Archives by David Cole
dlc@usaor.net

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COL. JOHN M. KENT, born in Waynesburg, Penn., February 20, 1836, is a son of 
Peter M. and Mary (Hook) Kent, who were of English and Irish origin.  His 
father, who was a native of Ohio, came to Greene County, Penn., when he was a 
young man, taught school for a number of years, and later in life worked at 
the stonemason's trade.  He died in 1852.  Col. Kent, the third in a family 
of eight children, was reared in Greene County, and received his early 
education in the common schools.  He was a plasterer by trade, also engaged 
in contracting and building until the war broke out. He enlisted in Company 
I, Eighth Pennsylvania Reserves, was elected First Lieutenant and served in 
that capacity one year.  He was then elected Captain for the remainder of his 
term of service.  He returned home and raised a company, and was elected 
Captain of the Fifth Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, in Company K, in which 
position he served until the close of the war.  Col. Kent was twice wounded, 
first in the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., in December, 1862, when he was 
reported as among the killed, having been pronounced by the physician 
mortally wounded.  The second time he was wounded at Spottsylvania.  He 
participated in many skirmishes and ten regular battles, among which were 
the Seven Days' battle in front of Richmond, Bull Run, South Mountain and 
Antietam, in 1862, and the Wilderness and Spottsylvania battles in 1864.  At 
the close of the war Col. Kent returned to Waynesburg, where for five years 
he engaged in his former business of contracting and building.  In 1869 he 
was appointed United States Store-keeper and Ganger, which position he held 
for sixteen years.  In 1874 he enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guards, 
in Company K of the Tenth Regiment; was elected Captain, and soon after 
elected Major.  He was subsequently elected to the position of 
Lieutenant-Colonel, in which capacity he served until he resigned in 1887.  
In 1886 he took charge of the Hotel Walton, of which he was proprietor for 
nearly two years, when he removed with his family to Pittsburgh, Penn.  The 
Colonel was married September 21, 1871, to Nanna A. Wallace, a native of 
Pittsburgh, Penn., and of Scotch-Irish descent.  They are the parents of two 
children--William H. and James W.  Mrs. Kent is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church.  The Colonel is a Republican in politics.  He has served as a member 
of the town council, and as Quartermaster of the G. A. R. Post at Waynesburg.  
He was always noted for his energy and zeal in organizing and conducting 
military and civic parades and demonstrations in his native town.

From "History of Greene County, Pennsylvania"
Nelson, Rishforth & Company; Chicago, IL (1888) [1993]
By Samuel P. Bates (Samuel Pennimann) Pg. 678-9