Richard Brent (1757December 30, 1814) was an American planter, lawyer, and politician who represented

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in both the

U.S. House The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

, and at various times Fairfax,

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educat ...

and

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

counties as he served at various times in both houses of the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

Early and family life

Brent was born in 1757, the eldest son of lawyer and future patriot legislator William Brent (1732-1782), at his father's plantation estate, 'Richland' on the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

in Stafford County in the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

. Nearly a century earlier

George Brent George Brent (born George Brendan Nolan; 15 March 1904 – 26 May 1979) was an Irish-American stage, film, and television actor. He is best remembered for the eleven films he made with Bette Davis, which included ''Jezebel'' and ''Dark Victory ...

had emigrated across the Atlantic Ocean to the Virginia Colony to avoid England's Civil Wars and persecution as a Catholic and established 'Woodstock' plantation; others from that prominent Catholic family would include

Margaret Brent Margaret Brent (c. 1601 – c. 1671), was an English immigrant to the Colony of Maryland, settled in its new capitol, St. Mary's City, Maryland. She was the first woman in the English North American colonies to appear before a court of the ...

, and Eleanor Carroll, sister of the future

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

John Carroll John Carroll may refer to: People Academia and science *Sir John Carroll (astronomer) (1899–1974), British astronomer *John Alexander Carroll (died 2000), American history professor *John Bissell Carroll (1916–2003), American cognitive sci ...

, who as a priest in Maryland crossed the

to serve the Brents and other Catholics in Northern Virginia Privately educated, Brent also read law, but never married.

Career

Admitted to the Virginia

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, Brent had a private legal practice in northern Virginia. Although Virginia had several laws (including one requiring an oath the support the Church of England, which restricted Catholics from practicing law and sitting in the legislature, those were not enforced against him. Before his birth, some relatives moved to

Prince William County, Virginia Prince William County is located on the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its county seat is the independent city of Manassas ...

and established Brent Town (modern Brentsville) to avoid such anti-Catholic legislation, although such mostly grew after William Brent's death, first when it became the Prince William County government seat, and later with the development of the

Orange and Alexandria Railroad The Orange and Alexandria Railroad (O&A) was a railroad in Virginia, United States. Chartered in 1848, it eventually extended from Alexandria to Gordonsville, with another section from Charlottesville to Lynchburg. The road played a crucial rol ...

. After his father's death Brent continued his family tradition and several times won election to the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, representing Stafford County in 1788 and representing Prince William County in 1793, 1794, 1800 and 1801. In 1794, Brent won election to the United States House of Representatives and represented

Virginia's 17th congressional district Virginia's 17th congressional district is an obsolete congressional district. It was eliminated in 1843 after the 1840 U.S. Census. Its last Congressman was Alexander H. H. Stuart. History Virginia's 17th congressional district was first ...

during the 4th and 5th Congresses, serving from March 1795 to March 1799, when he returned to the Virginia House of Delegates, again winning election from Prince William County. Brent again won election to the U.S. House and served another two-year term during the 7th Congress from March 1801 to March 1803. He served in the

Virginia State Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 Senate, senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the Lieutenant Governor ...

from 1808 to 1810. Following his service in the Virginia State Senate, fellow delegates elected Brent to the United States Senate, where he served from March 1809 until his death in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, on December 30, 1814. He is buried at the private Brent family cemetery near Aquia in Stafford County, Virginia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brent, Richard 1757 births 1814 deaths People from Stafford County, Virginia American people of English descent Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from Virginia Virginia lawyers American planters 18th-century American politicians 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers

Early and family life

Career

See also

References