George Dent was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 planter and politician from Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 who served in the House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from 1793 to 1801.

Early Life

Dent was born on his father’s estate, "Windsor Castle", on the Mattawoman Creek

Mattawoman Creek

Mattawoman Creek is a coastal-plain tributary to the tidal Potomac River with a mouth at Indian Head, Maryland, downstream of Washington, D.C. It comprises a river flowing through Prince George's and Charles counties and a tidal-freshwater estuary in Charles County...

 in Charles County

Charles County, Maryland

Charles County is a county in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Maryland.As of 2010, the population was 146,551. Its county seat is La Plata. This county was named for Charles Calvert , third Baron Baltimore....

.His father, John Dent

John Dent

John Dent may refer to:* John H. Dent , officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War and the First Barbary War* John Dent , British Member of Parliament for Lancaster 1790–1812 and Poole 1818–1826...

, was a planter who was a patriot during the Revolutionary War.

Revolutionary War

He served during the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

 as first lieutenant of militia of Charles and St. Mary's Counties under Captain Thomas H. Marshall, and as first lieutenant in the Third Battalion of the Flying Camp

Flying Camp

In the American Revolutionary War, the Flying Camp was a military formation employed by the Americans in the second half of 1776.After the British evacuation of Boston in March 1776, General George Washington met with members of the Continental Congress to determine future military strategy...

 Regular Troops of Maryland in 1776. He was also appointed a captain in the Twenty-sixth Battalion of the Maryland Militia in 1778.

Political Career

After the war, Dent served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates

Maryland House of Delegates

The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland, and is composed of 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The House chamber is located in the state capitol building on State Circle in Annapolis...

 from 1782 to 1790, where he was speaker pro tempore

Pro tempore

Pro tempore , abbreviated pro tem or p.t., is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a locum tenens in the absence of a superior, such as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate.Legislative...

 in 1788 and speaker

Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates

The Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates presides as speaker over the House of Delegates in the state of Maryland in the United States.-List of Speakers of the House of Delegates:- References :*...

 in 1789 and 1790. He served as the justice of the Charles County Court in 1791 and 1792, and as member of the Maryland Senate in 1791 and 1792, where he was President of the Senate during the latter year until his resignation on December 21, 1792.

In 1792, Dent was elected as a Pro-Administration candidate to the Third Congress and reelected as a Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...

 to the Fourth through Sixth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1793 to March 3, 1801. In Congress, Dent served as chairman of the Committee on Elections

United States House Committee on Elections

The United States House Committee on Elections is a former standing committee of the United States House of Representatives.Article 1, section 5, of the Constitution of the United States specifies: "Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns, and Qualifications of its own Members." The...

 (Sixth Congress). He also served as Speaker pro tempore of the House at various times from 1797 to 1799.

Upon leaving Congress, Dent was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

 as United States marshal of the District Court for the Potomac District at Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 on April 4, 1801.

Family and Later Life

His father had been a general during the Revolutionary War. His grandfather, George Dent, had been Chief Justice of Maryland. Judge Thomas Dent, Sr.

Thomas Dent, Sr.

Col. Thomas Dent, Sr., Gent. , Justice, Sheriff, and member of the Lower House of the Maryland General Assembly.Thomas was born about 1630 in the Parish of Guisborough, Yorkshire, England making him slightly less than thirty years of age upon his arrival in America around 1658. He resided in Saint...

 was his
grandfather's grandfather. The Dent family had been part of Maryland society from the very beginning of the colony. His son was naval hero of the Barbary Wars

Barbary Wars

The Barbary Wars were a series of wars between the United States of America and the Barbary States of North Africa in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. At issue was the Barbary pirates' demand of tribute from American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. If ships failed to pay, pirates...

, Captain John H. Dent

John H. Dent

John Herbert Dent was an officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War, the First Barbary War, and the War of 1812. He was acting Captain on the USS Constitution" during the attacks on Tripoli in 1804.-Early years:Born in Charles County, Maryland, Dent was the son of Congressman George...

. George Dent left his family and public service behind when he moved to Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

 in 1802 and settled about twelve miles from Augusta

Augusta, Georgia

Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...

. He died in 1813 in a horseback riding accident and is interred on his plantation.