Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/241

 KENT

KENT

1810, from Dartmouth in 1819, and from the University of Pennsylvania in 1820. His ap- pointment to the vacancy on the bench of the U.S. supreme court in 1823 was urged upon the President by William Wirt, attorney-general of the United States, but Monroe had already selected Smith Tiiompson for the office. His name was one of the eleven in " Class J, Judges and Lawyers "' named as eligible for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, New York university, and in October, 1900, received sixty- five votes, the only name in the class receiving a larger vote being John Marshall, with ninety-one, Story receiving sixty-four, and the three were given a place. He retired from the active duties of his law professorship in 1825, and devoted him- self to chamber practice and to the preparation of his C'ommentai'U's on American Law (4 vols. 1826-30), (6th ed., 1846), (13th ed., 1884). He is also the author of a treatise On the Charter of the City of New York, etc., (1836); A Course of Reading (1840). His great grandson, William Kent, published: Memoirs and Letters of James Kent, LL.D. (1898). Chancellor James Kent died in New York city, Dec. 12, 1847.

KENT, Joseph, governor of Maryland, was born in Calvert county, Md., Jan. 14, 1779. He received a good education: practised medicine and conducted a large farm, first in Calvert county and after 1806, near Bladensburg in Prince George's county. He was a representative from Maryland in the 12th and 13th congresses, 1811-15, and voted on June 18, 1812, in favorof de- claring war against Great Britain. He was again a representative, in the 16tli, 17th, 18tli and 19th congresses, 1819-26. He resigned, Jan. 6, 1826, to take his office as governor of Maryland, having been elected in 1825. He was governor of Mary- land, 1826-29. and U.S. senator, 183.3-37. He died at Bladensburg, Md., Nov. 24, 1837.

KENT, rioss, representative, was born in Eensselaer count}', N.Y., April 3, 1766; son of Moss and Hannah (Rogers) Kent, and brother of James Kent, the jurist. His father was graduated from Yale in 1752, studied law and practised in Rensselaer countj', N.Y., and re- ceived his A.M. degree from Yale in 1769. Moss Kent, Jr., was a lawyer in Leraysville, Jefferson county, N.Y., where he was the first judge of the county. He removed to Cooperstown, N.Y.;was a member of the state assembly in 1807 and 1810; a Federalist representative in the 13th and 14th congresses, 1813-17, and register of the court of chancery. He received the honorary de- gree of A.M. from Union in 1803. He died in Cooperstown, N.Y., in May, 1838.

KENT, William, jurist, was born in Albany, N.Y., in 1802; son of James and Elizabeth (Bai- ley) Kent. He was graduated from Union col-

lege, A.B., 1820, A.M., 1823; studied law and practised in New York city. He was appointed justice of the supreme court of New York by Gov- ernor Seward and served until 1846, when he re- signed to accept the Royall professorsliip of law in Harvard college. He resigned in 1847, and re- tui-ned to New York city. He was a member of the American Philosopliical society; and a mem- ber of the council of the University of the City of New York, 1839-52. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Hobart in 1843, and from Harvard in 1847. He was married to Helen Riggs, of New York city. He died at Fishkill Landing, N.Y., Jan. 14, 1861.

KENT, William, engineer, was born in Phila- delphia, Pa., March 5, 1851; son of James and Janet (Scott) Kent; grandson of James and Janet (Steel) Kent, and of Jolm and Marion (Weild) Scott. His father came from Bothwell, Scotland, in 1844, where for several generations the family had been landscape gardeners. His mother came from Annan, Scotland, in 1841, and they were married in 1848. William Kent was graduated from the Central High school, Phila- delphia, A.B., 1868, A.M., 1873; studied nights at the Cooper Union, N.Y., 1870-72, graduating the latter year; and was graduated from Stevens Institute of Technologj', M.E., 1876. He was book-keeper, a.ssistant on survey, and stmlent in chemistry at the Ringwood Iron works, Hewitt, N.J., 1872-74; student at the Stevens Institute of Technology, and assistant on the U.S. testing board, making research on alloys, 1875-77; a draftsman in Pittsburg, Pa., 1877; editor of the American Manufacturer and Iron World, Pitts- burg, 1877-79; employed in iron and steel works as assistant and superintendent, 1879-82; and manager of sales, and engineer of tests of a steam- boiler company, 1882-85. In October, 1882, he founded the Pittsburg Testing Laboratorj', and was general manager of the Springer Torsion Balance company, Jersey City, N.J., 1885-89. He engaged thereafter as a consulting engineer. He obtained patents on numerous inventions, includ- ing torsion scales and weighing machines, steam- boilers, and smokeless furnaces. In 1895 he be- came associate editor of Engineering News, New York city; and he was a member of the New Jersey state commission on the pollution of streams, 1898-99. He was married, Feb. 25, 1879, to Marion Weild Smith. He was elected a mem- ber of the American Institute of Mining En- gineers, 1876; the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1877; the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1880, and its vice-president, 1887-89, and the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers, 1898. He is the author of: Strength of Materials (1878); Strength of Wrought Iron and Chain Cables