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Richard Peabody Kent

Page history last edited by Bill Keogan 7 years, 6 months ago

Richard P. Kent was born in 1873 to Charles and Julia (Draper) Kent . The Kent family had residences on Montague St. in Brooklyn and Merrick. In 1891 Kent and his friend Edward C. Cammann established the Merrick Library. In the library's early years, Kent served as V.P./ Treasurer on the board. Kent and Cammann also planted Dutch elm trees on Merrick Ave. Kent planted Linden trees in the Lindenmere area of Merrick

Kent received his education at Columbia College (now Columbia University), where he was a manager for the football team, and a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity, the Choral Club and the Shakesperian Society. It a little unclear when or whether he graduated. An 1897 publication lists him among "matriculants who have not graduated," while a 1916 publication lists him as a graduate.

After leaving college in 1895, Kent worked for the George P Rowell advertising agency until 1902, and then found a positon in the Chigago Newspaper Union's New York office. By 1912, Kent was working for the First Mortgage Guarantee Company, and later became the manager of the Westchester branch of the Lawyers Mortgage Company.

He married Julia T. S. Haines, and they had two sons Richard Jr. and Arthur. By 1920, Kent and his family had moved to 160 Pelhamdale Ave. in Pelham, New York, and he was still at that address in 1931. Kent’s summer address in Merrick was Robin’s Nest 125 S. Merrick Ave. South.

Kent belonged to the Columbia University Club and the Manor Club in Pelham Manor. From at least 1916 to 1921, Kent acted as secretary on the board of the Home for Old Men and Aged Couples in Manhattan. In 1926 Kent took over from Cammann as president of the Merrick Library board. In 1945 the Church of the Redeemer in Merrick honored Kent, who was its senior warden and who had served as a vestryman and the parish treasurer for 50 years. He was also treasurer of the American Church Building Fund Commission and assistant treasurer of the National Council of the Episcopal Church until his retirement in 1946

Kent died in 1949 at age 76 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn.