Germanicus A. Kent (1791–1862) together with Thatcher Blake and Lewis Lemon founded Rockford, Illinois, United States in 1834.

Biography

Germanicus A. Kent was born in

Suffield, Connecticut Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It was once within the boundaries of Massachusetts. The town is located in the Connecticut River Valley with the town of Enfield neighboring to the east. As of the 2020 census, ...

, in 1791 and attend

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

. Around 1822, Kent moved to

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...

, establishing himself as a

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and forme ...

merchant, marrying Arabella Amiss of

Blacksburg, Virginia Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg, as well as the surrounding county, is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of ...

, on June 7, 1827. Kent was later a cotton merchant as a partner in the firm of Patton, Donegan & Co at the Bell

Cotton Factory Cotton Factory is an historic industrial complex formerly known as The Imperial Cotton Company Limited in the industrial north end of Hamilton, Canada. The complex has been renamed the Cotton Factory and is repurposed for small manufacturing and off ...

on the Flint river near Huntsville. The Kent family, including Lewis Lemon, a slave purchased by Germanicus as a boy, relocated to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

in 1834. After exploring the local area, Kent, Lemon and Thatcher Blake, a school teacher and farmer from

Oxford, Maine Oxford is a town in Oxford County, Maine, Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,229 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Oxford is home to the Oxford Plains Speedway, the annual Oxford County Fair, and Oxford Casino ...

, founded the settlement that was later to be called Rockford in 1834-1835. Germanicus and Arabella's daughter, Mary, was born in Rockford in 1836. They also had younger two sons called Lewis and John. In 1843, the Kent family returned to Arabella's hometown of Blacksburg, Virginia. Arabella died on May 26, 1851, and from 1856 Germanicus lived with his daughter, (now Mary Black) in Blacksburg until his death on March 1, 1862.

Memorials

In 1976, a statue called "Pulling Together" depicting a stylized scene of the founders of Rockford dragging their supply wagon through a swamp was unveiled as part of the Founders Memorial on Wyman Street Bypass, Rockford.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Germanicus 1791 births 1862 deaths People from Rockford, Illinois People from Suffield, Connecticut People from Huntsville, Alabama People from Blacksburg, Virginia Rockford, Illinois American city founders Yale College alumni