The Kent Family

Roswell Kent in Biographical Record of Summit County, Ohio

The full biographical sketch as printed, transcribed from the public-domain book. Spelling and wording are the original author’s; a few scanning errors may remain.

ROSWELL KENT, once one of the leading business men of Akron, was well and widely known as a merchant and as a member of the manufacturing firm of Irish, Kent and McMillan, later Irish, Kent and Baldwin, and subsequently Kent, Baldwin and Company. He was bom May 18, 1798, at Leyden, Massa- chusetts, and accompanied his parents to Hud- son, Ohio, in 1812.

Mr. Kent was educated in the best schools of his day. He became industrially interested at Akron, then Middlebury, in 1820, when he established a general store for his brother and Capt. ILeman Oviatt. In 1826 he bought the business and conducted it himself until his retirement. When the firm of Irish, Kent

and McMillan was formed for the manufac- ture of woolen machinery, he became its sec- ond member, and during the changes in the course of years, remained a member. His name is associated with many of Akron’s early enterprises and his assistance was given to a large number of its public-spirited efforts. The Sixth Ward Kent school building, one of the finest educational edifices of the city, was named in his honor.

In 1826 Roswell Kent was married to Eliza Hart, who was a daughter of Joseph and Annie (Hotchkiss) Hart, who settled at Mid- dlebury 'in 1807. Mrs. Kent was born in 1808, and was the first white child born in the present limits of Akron. Mr. and Mrs. Kent had seven children, of whom three grew to maturity — Ekka K. (deceased), who was the wife of Findley McNaughton; Russel H., and Flora K., who was the wife of T. S. Page.

Russel H. Kent, the only surviving son of the late Roswell and Eliza (Hart) Kent, who is secretary and treasurer of the Summit China 'Company, was born September 26, 1841, in Akron, Ohio. His education was se- cured in the common schools of Akron, after which he became associated with The Kent and Baldwin Company, of which his father was the head. In 1879 the Akron Stone- ware Company was organized, which was suc- ceeded in 1900 by The Summit China Com- pany, and Air. Kent is still identified with this enterprise. Mr. Kent was married to Miss Mary Melissa Brewster, who is a daughter of the late Alexander and Margaret Ann (Kin- ney) Brewster. Mr. and Mrs. Kent reside at No. 398 East Buchtel Avenue.

Alexander Brewster, who was one of Sum- mit County’s prominent pioneer citizens, was born September 10, 1808, at Augusta, Oneida County, New York, and died at Akron in May, 1899. In 1812 the parents of Mr. Brew- ster came to Summit County and settled as pioneers in the wilderness of Coventry Town- ship. There father and son developed a fine homestead farm, and together they worked at the carpenter’s trade, although Alexander later gave his attention entirely to agricultural

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

pursuits. In 1848 a vein of coal was discov- ered on his land, but not being a practical miner, he did little to develop it until after his return from the California gold fields, in 1852. He soon found it more profitable to engage in mining than in farming, and after successfully operating on his own land, in 1865 he organized a stock company, under the title of the Brewster Coal Company, with a capital stock of $100,000. Of this organiza- tion, Mr. Brewster became president and his two sons, Alfred A. and Austin Iv., were asso- ciated with him, the former as general agent, and the latter as secretary and treasurer. This company is still active in the coal fields and for years, during Mr. Brewster’S management, mined 300,000 tons of coal annually. He was a man of fine business judgment and be- came one of Akron’s most substantial citi- zens.

Source: Biographical Record of Summit County, Ohio. See the original pages at the Internet Archive.