Edward Kent

Edward Kent ( born January 8, 1802 in Concord, New Hampshire, † May 19, 1877 in Bangor, Maine ) was an American politician and from 1838 to 1839 and again from 1841 to 1842 governor of Maine.

Early years

Edward Kent attended the local schools of his home in New Hampshire. He then attended Harvard University until 1821. After studying law and admitted to the bar he began to practice in Bangor, Maine.

Political Rise and Governor of Maine

Kent's political career began in 1829 when he was elected to the House of Representatives from Maine. There he remained until 1833. Between 1836 and 1837 he was mayor of Bangor. In 1837 he was elected as a candidate of the Whig Party as the new governor of Maine. In the elections of 1836 he was still inferior to Robert Dunlap. The election of 1837 was very close and was challenged by the Democrats. The Supreme Court of Maine explained but the election to be valid. This Kent could take up his post on 19 January 1838. In the elections of 1838, he lost to Democrat John Fairfield, but a year later he was re-elected for one year as governor. In this year he was but certainly not by the people but by the state House of Representatives and the majority. During his tenure, he tried to settle the border dispute in the northeast of the country.

Further CV

After the end of his last term of office on January 5, 1842 Kent was a member of a negotiating committee, which should solve the border issue in northeastern Maine. In fact, the problem has been dealt with in this year with the Webster - Ashburton Treaty so-called. Between 1849 and 1853 he was American consul in Rio de Janeiro and from 1859 to 1873 he was a judge of the Supreme Court of Maine. In 1875 he was chairman of a commission that revised the state constitution. Edward Kent died in May 1877. He was married twice and had four children.