James Kent (July 31, 1763-December 12, 1847) was born in Doanesburg, New York, the eldest son of Moss Kent, Sr., a farmer and lawyer, and Hannah Rogers. His mother died when he was seven years old and his father remarried. Kent studied with private tutors and at numerous boarding schools, most notably Ebenezer Baldwin's in Danbury, Connecticut. He entered Yale College in September 1777 and received his degree of B.A. on December 12, 1781. His college classes were suspended many times due to the Revolutionary War. During one of these intervals he encountered Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, which provided an impetus for his pursuit of a career in law.
In November 1781, Kent began a three-year legal apprenticeship in the law office of Attorney General Egbert Benson in Poughkeepsie, New York. At age 21, in January 1785, he was admitted to the New York Supreme Court Bar. After a failed attempt at solo practice in Fredericksburg, New York (Kent attracted no clients), he became the junior partner of Gilbert Livingston in Poughkeepsie. Now assured of financial security, Kent was able to marry 16-year-old Elizabeth Bailey, whose family he had roomed with during his clerkship.
Kent's years in Poughkeepsie were not overburdened with legal practice, but during this time his political affiliations were fixed by his association with Federalist leaders who came to Poughkeepsie to attend the Constitutional Convention of 1788. Kent's |  |
James Kent (Columbiana--"James Kent" file) |
political values coincided with those of New York's leading Federalists, including Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. The Antifederalist atmosphere of Poughkeepsie and Kent's loss in the 1793 congressional election prompted his move to New York City in April 1793. In the city, Kent immediately found himself in financial trouble due to lack of business and the high cost of living. Kent experienced further hardship when his two-year-old daughter died of smallpox. His political connections proved to be his savior as Columbia College's Federalist-dominated Board of Trustees selected Kent to fill a new law professorship.
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