imported>BD2412: Diffusing overpopulated category.

2025-05-28T03:38:58Z

Diffusing overpopulated category.

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{{Short description|American judge (1802–1877)}}
{{for-multi|his son, the American jurist|Edward Kent Jr.|the estate owner and agriculturalist in the Caribbean|Edward Roy Kent|the architect in Buffalo, New York|Edward Austin Kent}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Edward Kent
| image = Governor Edward Kent.jpg
| office = Associate Justice of the [[Maine Supreme Judicial Court]]
| term_start = 1859
| term_end = 1873
| office1 = 12th and 15th [[Governor of Maine]]
| term_start1 =January 13, 1841
| term_end1 = January 5, 1842
| predecessor1 =[[Richard H. Vose]]
| successor1 =[[John Fairfield]]
| term_start2 = January 19, 1838
| term_end2 = January 2, 1839
| predecessor2 =[[Robert P. Dunlap]]
| successor2 =[[John Fairfield]]
| office3=2nd Mayor of [[Bangor, Maine]]
| term_start3= 1836
| term_end3 = 1837
| predecessor3 =[[Allen Gilman]]
| successor3 =[[Rufus Dwinel]]
| office4 =Member of the [[Maine Senate]]
| term_start4 = 1831
| term_end4 = 1833
| predecessor4 =
| successor4 =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = January 8, 1802
| birth_place =[[Concord, New Hampshire|Concord]], [[New Hampshire]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| death_date =May 19, 1877 (aged 75)
| death_place = [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]], [[Maine]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|resting_place=[[Mount Auburn Cemetery]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]].
| alma_mater =
| nationality =
| party = [[United States Whig Party|Whig]]
| known_for =
| occupation =
}}

'''Edward Kent''' (January 8, 1802 – May 19, 1877) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 12th and 15th [[governor of Maine]]. He was among the last prominent members of the [[United States Whig Party|Whig Party]] in Maine before it collapsed in favor of the [[History of the United States Republican Party|Republicans]]. He is the only Maine governor to have been elected to two non-consecutive terms (1838–39 and 1841–42), though his second term was through direct appointment by the Whig-dominated [[Maine Legislature]].

==Early life and education==
Born in 1802 in [[Concord, New Hampshire]], Kent was raised in [[Bangor, Maine]]. He graduated from [[Harvard University]] in 1821, in the same class as [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]]. According to a biographical article reprinted in the ''New York Times'', "he had no rank in college and in truth was president of the "Lazy Club".{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

== Career ==
He apprenticed as a lawyer in [[Topsham, Maine]], but established his own practice in the growing lumber-port of Bangor in 1825. He was elected to the [[Maine Legislature]] in 1829 and held political offices on and off the rest of his life, becoming the second mayor of Bangor (1836–1837) and [[governor of Maine]].

Kent went into practice with Jonas Cutting in 1831 and their partnership lasted 18 years. The two constructed the [[Jonas Cutting–Edward Kent House]] in Bangor's [[Broadway Historic District (Bangor, Maine)|Broadway]] neighborhood, which is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] as an example of the [[Greek Revival]] style.<ref name="anecdotes">"Edward Kent: Anecdotes of the Governor for Whom Maine Went", ''New York Times'', Dec. 4, 1881, p. 2; Henry Chase, "Edward Kent", ''Representative Men of Maine'' (Portland, 1893)</ref>

Kent ended his public life as an associate justice of the [[Maine Supreme Judicial Court]] (1859–73). His law partner and neighbor Jonas Cutting served almost concurrently in the same position (1854–75). Kent's uncle [[Prentiss Mellen]] had been the first chief justice of the same court.

Kent played a part in both instigating and resolving the [[Aroostook War]].

== Personal life ==
While living in [[Rio de Janeiro]], his wife and two children died of [[yellow fever]]. His surviving child died soon after they returned to Bangor. Kent married a second time, to Abigail Ann Rockwood who was the niece of first wife Sarah Johnston, and had one more child, [[Edward Kent Jr.]], who became the chief justice of the [[Arizona Territory]] Supreme Court.<ref name="anecdotes" />

He died of [[congestive heart failure]] in 1877 in [[Bangor, Maine]], and is buried at the [[Mount Auburn Cemetery]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]].

=== Legacy ===
Fort Kent, situated where the [[Fish River (Maine)|Fish River]] meets the [[Saint John River (New Brunswick)|Saint John River]] in the Saint John River Valley, was named in his honor. Later, the town of [[Fort Kent, Maine]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Gannett, Henry|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|publisher=Govt. Print. Off.|year=1905|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n128 129]}}</ref> was named for the military installation (of which only a single blockhouse survives) and for Governor Kent.

==See also==
* [[List of mayors of Bangor, Maine]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* David M. Gold. ''An Exemplary Whig: Edward Kent and the Whig Disposition in American Politics and Law'' (Lexington Books; 2012) 255 pages; scholarly biography
{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=William Kent}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] nominee for [[Governor of Maine]]|years=[[1836 Maine gubernatorial election|1836]], [[1837 Maine gubernatorial election|1837]], [[1838 Maine gubernatorial election|1838]], [[1839 Maine gubernatorial election|1839]], [[1840 Maine gubernatorial election|1840]], [[1841 Maine gubernatorial election|1841]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Edward Robinson (Maine politician)|Edward Robinson]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
|before=[[Robert P. Dunlap]]
|years=1838–1839
|after=[[John Fairfield]]
|title=12th [[Governor of Maine]]
}}
{{succession box
|before=[[John Fairfield]]
|years=1841–1842
|after=[[John Fairfield]]
|title=15th [[Governor of Maine]]
}}
{{succession box
|before=[[Allen Gilman]]
|years=1836–1837
|after=[[Rufus Dwinel]]
|title=2nd Mayor of<br>[[Bangor, Maine]]
}}
{{s-legal}}
{{Succession box|title=Associate Justice of the<br>[[Maine Supreme Judicial Court]]|before=[[Joshua W. Hathaway]] |after= [[John A. Peters (1822–1904)|John A. Peters]] |years=1859–1873}}
{{s-end}}

{{Governors of Maine}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Edward}}
[[Category:1802 births]]
[[Category:1877 deaths]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Governors of Maine]]
[[Category:Mayors of Bangor, Maine]]
[[Category:Maine Whigs]]
[[Category:Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery]]
[[Category:Politicians from Concord, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Whig Party state governors of the United States]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Maine Legislature]]
[[Category:Justices of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court]]
[[Category:19th-century Maine state court judges]]

Edward Kent - Revision history

imported>BD2412: Diffusing overpopulated category.