13 Facts About Edward Kent

Edward Kent was an American attorney and politician who served as the 12th and 15th governor of Maine.

Edward Kent was among the last prominent members of the Whig Party in Maine before it collapsed in favor of the Republicans.

Edward Kent is the only Maine governor to have been elected to two non-consecutive terms, though his second term was through direct appointment by the Whig-dominated Maine Legislature.

Edward Kent graduated from Harvard University in 1821, in the same class as Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Edward Kent apprenticed as a lawyer in Topsham, Maine, but established his own practice in the growing lumber-port of Bangor in 1825.

Edward Kent was elected to the Maine Legislature in 1829 and held political offices on and off the rest of his life, becoming the second mayor of Bangor and governor of Maine.

Edward Kent went into practice with Jonas Cutting in 1831 and their partnership lasted 18 years.

Edward Kent ended his public life as an associate justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Edward Kent played a part in both instigating and resolving the Aroostook War.

Edward Kent's surviving child died soon after they returned to Bangor.

Edward Kent died of congestive heart failure in 1877 in Bangor, Maine, and is buried at the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Fort Edward Kent, situated where the Fish River meets the Saint John River in the Saint John River Valley, was named in his honor.

Later, the town of Fort Edward Kent, Maine was named for the military installation and for Governor Edward Kent.