Kent Family

So far I have only briefly mentioned one of the more prominent families of early Grand Ledge. Tales of the Kent Family would fill many columns, but for now I will give a brief overview.

The Kents were among the first settlers of Oneida township. Peter M. Kent settled here in 1836. He purchased 560 acres at the corner of Strange and Oneida Roads. The following year his father Isaac Kind and his siblings arrived from New York to join him. Isaac had owned a farm of eighty acres in New York, and the proceeds from the sale of this property were used to purchase the land in Oneida township.

Isaac Kind was the father of five children: Peggy, who married Peter Kiser: Lydia, who married a man named Houser; Lucy, who married Michael Krupp; Peter M. Kent, who married Eliza Hixson; and Francis (Frank) M. Kent, who married Harriet Lovell.

Peter was a millwright and carpenter by trade. He built the mill in Portland in 1836 where a street is named in his honor. In 1852, Peter with his brother Francis, along with Abram Hixson bought Grand Ledge flour and saw mills downtown. Peter however remained working on his farm. It was not until 1861 when Peter retired from farm life. He came to town and built his fine retirement home in Grand Ledge. The house still stands at 127 West Jefferson.

Peter and his wife Eliza had three children, Edwin, Eliza and Charles Albert. Edwin would inherit the home on the corner, while is brother Charles built the large brick home next door at 119 West Jefferson.

Frank Kent was a miller by trade and ran the mills downtown. He had a farm of 160 acres that he began to clear, but eventually sold and used the proceeds to purchase his interest in the mills in 1852. In 1855 he bought an 80 acre farm on the Jenne Road. It was entirely unimproved and he reclaimed about thirty acres of this farm before turning over the propterty over to his son Velorus to finish the job.

During the 1860s Frank Kent lived at the corner of Jackson and Lincoln streets in a house that still stands at 427 Jackson. He then built a new brick home on West Jefferson at Harrison. This was right across the street from his brother Peter, where the city parking lot is today.

Frank and Harriet had seven children. Velorus, Metta, Flora, Lellan, Darwin and twins Myra and Mryta. Four of the children died before reaching the age of five. Metta and Darwin would both move to Leslie, MI. Velorus remained in Grand Ledge and became famous for his tales of Grand Ledge history which ran in the Independent in the 1920s.