Part 4 The Lineage of Benjamin Kent A World War I Soldier

This is a multi part post on Benjamin Kent, please see parts 1-3 for background information.

Daniel Kent and Julia Gantt

Daniel Kent and Julia Gantt were married c. 1880.[i] From Daniel’s listing in the 1885 Baltimore City Directory[ii] they lived there by 1884 because the information was recorded the year before publication.  In the directory the family was listed as living at 73 North Vincent Alley.[iii] From the addresses listed for Daniel Kent in subsequent Baltimore directories, the family was consistently on North Vincent Alley.

Why they moved from rural Calvert County to the city of Baltimore we can only speculate. There was a migration of African Americans away from rural areas and into larger cities during that time across the country.[iv]  Predominantly families were moving for better economic opportunities or to leave racial prejudices in rural areas.

View of Baltimore c.1880. Image: Print. The City of Baltimore, MD. In 1880. View From Washington Monument Looking South. Unknown artist. Library of Congress. Digital ID: pga 04077. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.04077 : accessed 28 February 2018

On the 1900 U.S. Census the family were still on Vincent Alley, this time at number 926.[v]  Daniel and his oldest son William were both coal cart drivers while Julia did laundry out of the family

home.[vi]  Two of the eight children were in school with the youngest two still at home.

1900 United States Federal Census[vii]
Name	Daniel	Julia	William	Moran [Mary]	Andrew	Eda	Lithia		Benjamin	Carrie	Wallace
Sex	M	F	M	F	M	F	F		M	F	M
Birth month	Un	Un	Feb	Mar	Dec	Nov	?		Dec	Apr	Sep
Birth year	1860	1862	1880	1884	1886	1890		1891	1894	1896	1899
Age	40	38	20	16	14	10	9		6	4	8/12
Birth	MD	MD	MD	MD	MD	MD	MD		MD	MD	MD
Occu-pation	Coal cart driver	Laundry work	Coal cart driver	-	?	Sch.	Sch.		-	-	-

Between 1905[viii] and 1907[ix] the Kent family moved to 1526 Riggs Avenue.  The home on Riggs Avenue still stands and is nicely located near the inner harbour of downtown Baltimore. Unfortunately, the area is severely economically depressed, and these historic homes are in danger of demolition.

 

The only section of row homes left on this block of Riggs Avenue. 1526 is the home on the far left in this image from Google Maps Street View. Google Maps Street View. Image: Digital. (2017) Google Street View of 1526 Riggs Ave. https://www.google.com/maps : accessed 28 February 2018

The 1910 U.S. Census was the last to ask how many children for the mother were born and how many were living. That census showed 11 children born to Julia and 11 living. However, Edith and Eda are not one, but two people. They were born the same year but 10 months apart which was identified through the 1900 census and Edith’s Social Security records.[x] In 1900 Eda was listed on the census and in 1910 was an Edith listed. They were never on the same record.

More of the family worked by the 1910 census.  Benjamin was a sorter at a grocery, his sisters Carrie and Alitha were servants, Edith had joined her mother working at home as a laundress, and both Andrew and his father were street labourers.[xi] 

1910 United States Federal Census[xii]
Name	Daniel	Julia	Andrew	Edith	Alitha	Benjamin	Carrie	Wallace	Julia	Elsie
Age	47	45	24	22	20	17	14	12	9	7
Place of birth	MD	MD	MD	MD	MD	MD	MD	MD	MD	MD
Trade	Lab-our	Laun- dress	Lab-our	Laun- dres	Ser-vant	Sorter	Ser-vant	-	-	-
Nature of Trade	Street	At home	Street	At home	Private family	Grocery store	Private family	-	-	-
Self / Wage earner	Wage	Self	Wage	Self	Wage	Wage	Wage	-	-	-

Addresses for Daniel Kent Family in the Baltimore City Directory.

Baltimore City Addresses
Year	Address
1885	73 North Vincent[xiii]
1889	906 North Vincent[xiv]
1890	906 North Vincent[xv]
1896	905 North Vincent[xvi]
1904	926 North Vincent[xvii]
1905	926 North Vincent[xviii]
1907	1520 Riggs[xix]
1909	1526 Riggs[xx]

The family moved from Baltimore within the next year. They no longer appeared in the Baltimore City Directory after 1911 and Benjamin listed his home at Huntington, Maryland on his draft card

dated 5 June 1917.[xxi]

From the 1920 census records the Kent family resided in Prince Frederick, Calvert County Maryland.[xxii]  Daniel rented a farm but no records were found on what he cultivated.  From an image discovered during research, we can assume that the farm produced tobacco. Calvert County grew tobacco from the 17^th century until the 2000s when the prices of tobacco fell.[xxiii]

Daniel died sometime in the 1920s as Julia was listed on the 1930 census as a Widow.[xxiv]  Julia lived at that time in Baltimore with her daughter, Mary, and son-in-law, Walter Jackson. 

 

Daniel Kent in a tobacco field c. 1925. Taken by his daughter Carrie.

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[i] Census. 1900. United States. Baltimore (City), Maryland. ED 235. p. 156A (stamped). http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2018.

[ii] Directories. United States. (1885) Baltimore, Maryland City Directory 1885. Collection: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. http://ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2018.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] The Maryland State Archives. (2012) The Road From Frederick to Thurgood: Black Baltimore in Transition 1870 – 1920. http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/stagser/s1259/121/6050/html/1000.html : accessed 28 February 2018.

[v] Census. 1900. United States. Baltimore (City), Maryland. ED 235. p. 156A (stamped). http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2018

[vi] Ibid.

[vii] Census. 1900. United States. Baltimore (City), Maryland. ED 235. p. 156A (stamped). http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2018.

[viii] Directories. United States. (1905) Baltimore, Maryland City Directory 1905. Collection: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. http://ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2018.

[ix] Directories. United States. (1907) Baltimore, Maryland City Directory 1907. Collection: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. http://ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2018.

[x] Social Security Administration. BROWN, Edith Kent. Collection: U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936 – 2007. http://ancestry.com : accessed 7 February 2018.

[xi] Census. 1910. United States. Baltimore (City), Maryland. ED 276. p. 7B (written). http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2018.

[xii] Ibid.

[xiii] Directories. United States. (1885) Baltimore, Maryland City Directory 1885. Collection: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. http://ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2018.

[xiv] Directories. United States. (1889) Baltimore, Maryland City Directory 1889. Collection: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. http://ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2018.

[xv] Directories. United States. (1890) Baltimore, Maryland City Directory 1890. Collection: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. http://ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2018.

[xvi] Directories. United States. (1896) Baltimore, Maryland City Directory 1896. Collection: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. http://ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2018.

[xvii] Directories. United States. (1904) Baltimore, Maryland City Directory 1904. Collection: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. http://ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2018.

[xviii] Directories. United States. (1905) Baltimore, Maryland City Directory 1905. Collection: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. http://ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2018.

[xix] Directories. United States. (1907) Baltimore, Maryland City Directory 1907. Collection: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. http://ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2018.

[xx] Directories. United States. (1909) Baltimore, Maryland City Directory 1909. Collection: U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. http://ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2018.

[xxi] United States Selective Service System. KENT, Benjamin. Ancestry. Collection: U.S. WWI Draft Registration Cards, 1917 – 1918. http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2018.

[xxii] Census. 1920. United States. Prince Frederick, Calvert County, Maryland. ED 33. p. 11A (written). http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2018.

[xxiii] American Chestnut Land Trust. (2018) Tobacco Landscape. https://www.acltweb.org/index.php/the-land/cultural-history/tobacco-landscape/ : accessed 28 February 2018.

[xxiv] Census. 1930. United States. Baltimore (City), Maryland. ED 4. p. 7A (written). http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2018.