01. Overview: Dent Family Collection

Archive

-

St. Mary's County Historical Society, Leonardtown, MD

Name/Title

01. Overview: Dent Family Collection

Entry/Object ID

1991.001.0001

Scope and Content

2 Hollinger boxes; 1 half-size box; 3 correspondence boxes; 5 flat boxes; 2 storage boxes This collection includes more than 500 letters and several dozen business communications and records, as well as diaries, a few photographs, news clippings, awards given to Lettie Dent during her years as superintendent of St. Mary's County schools, memorabilia of various family members, and memorabilia of the tercentenary of St. Mary's County, in which Miss Dent played an active role. There are programs and other documents associated with Confederate States of America veterans' associations. One relative collected newspapers and a few representative copies have been retained. John F. Dent (1814-1898) came to St. Mary's County from Charles County in 1836 to read law with Benjamin Harris of Leonardtown. Mr. Dent was admitted to the bar in 1837. He married Lillia Dent Blakistone (1815-1884) in 1839 and together they raised a family at Burlington near Oakley. A total of 8 children were born to the couple, but only 3 lived to adulthood, and the eldest daughter died at 30. Lillia died of dysentery in 1884. After ten years as a widower, Dent married Lucy P. Chandler of Montrose, Virginia in 1894. John Dent was an educated man, a lawyer, a diligent farmer and man of affairs. As were so many in St. Mary's county, Mr. Dent was a Confederate sympathizer and suffered substantial economic losses during the War Between the States. Mr. Dent's eldest son, John Marshall (1844-1929), was among several young men from the district who fought on the Confederate side. John F.'s eldest daughter, Catherine (1842-1872), known as Kate, married a distant cousin from the Georgia family of Dents, Joseph Hugh Dent (1845-1929). When Catherine died after childbirth, he eventually married her younger sister, Frances Lillia Dent (1858-1938). A substantial portion of the letters in this collection were to and from John F. Dent and this daughter, Frances, known as Fannie, and Joseph and Fannie's correspondence when he was in Georgia and she was back at Burlington. Despite long separations, the couple had at least 5 and possibly 7 children, of whom 4 survived. After John F.'s death, Joseph and Fannie bought Burlington and she lived there full time and farmed. The children all stayed in the county as adults, so the correspondence ceases in 1919. The cousin who collected newspapers, Nettie Blakistone, lived in Washington, D.C. from late childhood until her death.

Collection

Dent Family Collection

Archive Details

Primary Language

English

Archive Items Details

Date(s) of Creation

1830 - 1982

Location

Shelf

Rack 02, Shelf 3

Rack

Rack 02

Wall

South wall

Room

Archives 1

Building

Tudor Hall

Shelf

Rack 02, Shelf 3

Rack

Rack 02

Wall

South wall

Room

Archives 1

Building

Tudor Hall

Shelf

Rack 02, Shelf 2

Rack

Rack 02

Wall

South wall

Room

Archives 1

Building

Tudor Hall

Shelf

Rack 02, Shelf 1

Rack

Rack 02

Wall

South wall

Room

Archives 1

Building

Tudor Hall

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Blakistone, Nettie

Person or Organization

Blakistone, Zachariah (1871-1982)

Person or Organization

Burch, Elliott E.

Person or Organization

Dent, Arthur St. Clair

Person or Organization

Dent, Catherine Rebecca (1842-1872)

Person or Organization

Dent, Elliott

Person or Organization

Dent, Frances

Person or Organization

Dent, Frances Joseph (1886-1987)

Person or Organization

Dent, Frances Katherine

Person or Organization

Dent, Frances Lillia (1858-1938)

Person or Organization

Dent, Helen (1895-1913)

Person or Organization

Dent, Ida Louise

Person or Organization

Dent, Ida Wright (1847-1925)

Person or Organization

Dent, John F. (1814-1898)

Person or Organization

Dent, John Francis (1896-1973)

Person or Organization

Dent, John Marshall

Person or Organization

Dent, John Marshall (1844-1929)

Person or Organization

Dent, Joseph Hugh (1844-1929)

Person or Organization

Dent, Lettie Marshall (1894-1982)

Person or Organization

Dent, Lillia Blakistone (1815-1884)

Person or Organization

Dent, Lillia Genevieve (1849-1851)

Person or Organization

Dent, Ruth Petrie (1890-1959)

Person or Organization

Dent, Wade Gilbert

Person or Organization

Dent, Walter

Person or Organization

Dent, Wright B.

Person or Organization

Palmer, Elizabeth