Joseph Kent - Early life and career, Governor of Maryland, United States Senate and later life

US representative, governor, and senator, born in Calverty Co, Maryland, USA. A congressman (Federalist, Maryland, 1811–15, 1819–26), then Republican governor (1826–9), and senator (1833–7), he raised money for the Chesapeake and Ohio canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Joseph Kent (January 14, 1779 – November 24, 1837), a Whig, was a United States Senator from Maryland, serving from 1833 until his death in 1837. He also served in the House of Representatives, serving the second district of Maryland from 1811-1815 and again from 1819-1826, and as Governor of Maryland from 1826-1829.

Early life and career

Born in Calvert County, Maryland to Daniel and Anne Wheeler Kent, Joseph Kent received a liberal schooling and studied medicine. Kent purchased a 300-acre estate named "Rose Mount" near Bladensburg, Maryland, and settled there around 1807.

Kent was elected as a Federalist to the Twelfth and Thirteenth Congresses, and served from March 4, 1811 until March 3, 1815. In Congress, he served as chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia (Thirteenth Congress), and, although he was against war, he voted in favor of war against Great Britain, resulting in the War of 1812. Kent was elected to the Sixteenth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1819, to January 6, 1826, when he resigned, having been elected Governor of Maryland.

Governor of Maryland

The primary goal of Kent's administration as governor was to work towards internal improvement.

Other areas of interest for Kent included prison reform, separating presidential voting into districts, and for increased funding for schools and colleges.

United States Senate and later life

Kent was elected as a Republican (later Whig) to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1833, until his death at his home, ”Rose Mount,” near Bladensburg. As senator, Kent was opposed to the Bank of the United States, and offered a resolution asking for negotiations with France regarding lower tobacco prices and restricting the importing of tobacco.

Due to ill health, Kent attended only four sessions of the Senate, and died in 1837 as a result of a fall from his horse.