George Dent (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.
Died:
on December 2, 1813, on his plantation near Augusta, Georgia, as a result of being thrown from a horse.
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, Prince George's County.
Social Status and Activities: Gent., 1789; fifth generation legislator.
Occupational Profile: possibly a planter.
Public Career
Legislative Service: House of Delegates,
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
Size of estate unknown.
Return to George Dent's Introductory Page
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