Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

George Dent (ca. 1758-1813)
MSA SC 3520-333

Biography:

BORN: ca. 1758 at "Clarks Inheritance" on Mattawoman Creek, Pomonkey Hundred, Charles County; probably elder son.
NATIVE: fifth generation.
RESIDED: in Pomonkey Hundred, Charles County, 1778; plantation near Augusta, Georgia, 1802 until death.

FAMILY BACKGROUND.
FATHER John Dent, of George (ca. 1733-1809), son of George Dent (1690-1754).
MOTHER. Sarah (?-1795), daughter of Thomas Marshall and wife Elizabeth Bishop (1735-?).
UNCLE: George Dent (?-1785).
AUNT: Elizabeth Dent (?-1781), who married Richard Harrison (?-1780).
BROTHER Thomas Marshall (1761-1823).
SISTERS: Ann Herbert (1756-1813); Elizabeth (1754-died young).
MARRIED Anne Magruder, daughter of James Truman (?-1789) and wife Elizabeth Gordon (?-ca. 1807).
CHILDREN. SONS: John Herbert (1782-?), who married Elizabeth Anne Harry; James Truman (1790-?), who married Catherine Anne Cooper; George Columbus (1792-1815), who died in a duel; and Dennis (1796-?), who married Martha Beall. DAUGHTERS: Sarah Marshall (1783-?), who married first, Edward Briscoe, and second, (first name unknown) Fendall; Elizabeth Truman (1786-1789); Maria (1788-?), who married John Neilson; and Mary Ann, (?-died young).

PRIVATE CAREER.
EDUCATION: literate.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican, St. John's Parish, Piscataway, Charles County.
SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Gent., 1789; fifth generation legislator.
OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: possibly a planter.

PUBLIC CAREER.
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower House, Charles County, 1782-1783, 1784, 1785, 1786- 1787 (Grievances 2), 1787-1788 (Elections 1; Claims 1), 1788 (Elections), 1789 (speaker), 1790 (speaker); Senate, Western Shore, Term of 1791- 1796: 1791-1792 (president 2), 1792 (president; resigned on December 21, 1792).
LOCAL OFFICES justice, Charles County, 1774-at least 1795; justice, Orphans' Court, Charles County, commissioned 1778 and 1779; subscription officer, Charles County, 1779.
MILITARY SERVICE: 1st lieutenant, Third Maryland Battalion, Flying Camp, 1776; 1st lieutenant, Charles County Militia, commissioned 1778, then promoted to captain and assigned to the Twenty-sixth Battalion.
OUT OF STATE SERVICE: representative, U.S. Congress, 1793-1795, 1795-1797, 1797-1799, 1799-1801; nominated as marshal of Washington, D.C., 1801; he expected to receive the post of U.S. treasurer because of his ardent support of Thomas Jefferson in the 1801 election; when disappointed in his failure to receive the post, he moved to Georgia in 1802.

WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
PERSONAL PROPERTY; assessed value £1,167.10.0, including 39 slaves and 16 oz. plate, 1783.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: 1,863 acres in Charles County (580 acres inherited from his father).
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH sold 580 acres of his land and 243 acres of his wife's land, 1802.

WEALTH AT DEATH.
DIED on December 2, 1813, on his plantation near Augusta, Georgia, as a result of being thrown from a horse; size of estate unknown.

Source: Edward C. Papenfuse, et al. Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1634-1789. Volume 1: A-H. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979), 263-264.
 

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