Marvin Kent
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Marvin Kent
|image = Marvin Kent.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1816|09|21}}
|birth_place = Ravenna, Ohio, US
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1908|12|10|1816|09|21}}
|death_place = Kent, Ohio, US
|other_names =
|known_for = Namesake of Kent, Ohio,
Establishment of Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
|occupation = Businessman
|nationality = American
|signature = Signature of Marvin Kent (1816–1908).png
}}
Marvin Kent (September 21, 1816 – December 10, 1908) was a railroad president, politician, and businessman from Portage County, Ohio, United States, best known as the namesake of the city of Kent, Ohio, which was previously known as Franklin Mills.{{cite web |url= http://speccoll.library.kent.edu/reghist/kentfamily/kentfamily.html|title= Kent Family Papers, 1818-2004|access-date=February 22, 2015|work= Kent State University Special Collections|publisher= Kent State University|year= 2003}}
Biography
Marvin Kent was born in Ravenna, Ohio, and was heavily involved in the business dealings of his father Zenas Kent from a very young age. During the 1860s he was instrumental in establishing the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad and having the railroad shops located in the village of Franklin Mills. The village was named after him shortly thereafter in 1864. Kent also served as a bank president and as an Ohio state senator from the Republican party. He died in Kent, Ohio, in 1908.
Relatives
Kent's father Zenas had several business ventures during the 1830s through the 1850s in Franklin Mills and briefly had a partnership with John Brown to build a tannery. While the tannery was completed in 1837, Brown left the partnership before the building was finished.{{cite web |url= http://www.hudsonlibrary.org/HistoricalSociety/JohnBrown_History.html |title= John Brown: A Brief Chronology |access-date= February 22, 2015 |author= Caccamo, James F. |work= John Brown Collection |publisher= Hudson Library and Historical Society |year= 2001 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20150223041955/http://www.hudsonlibrary.org/HistoricalSociety/JohnBrown_History.html |archive-date= February 23, 2015 }} He also had considerable land holdings and built a four-story commercial block in what is now downtown Kent in 1837 that was said to have been the tallest building in Ohio at the time.{{cite news |first= Roger |last= Di Paolo|title= Portage Pathways: No love lost: Zenas Kent turned his back on Ravenna to build rival town |newspaper= Record-Courier |date= March 30, 2008}} He eventually would relocate to Franklin Mills in 1851. Marvin Kent had two sons: Henry Lewis Kent and William Stewart Kent. Henry was the father of two daughters and the grandfather of Marvin Kent Curtis. William Kent played a key role in the establishment of Kent State University in 1910 by donating the land for the original campus.{{cite web |url= http://kentohiohistory.org/connections/about_kent_files/The%20Kents.pdf |title= The Kent Family |access-date= February 22, 2015 |work= About Kent Files |publisher= Kent Historical Society |year= 2003 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150223051625/http://kentohiohistory.org/connections/about_kent_files/The%20Kents.pdf |archive-date= February 23, 2015 }}
References
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Category:19th-century American railroad executives
Category:American people of English descent
Category:Republican Party Ohio state senators
Category:People from Kent, Ohio