Today in Wheeling History: November 20 — Silas Bent, frontier jurist and land surveyor who studied law in Wheeling, died in St. Louis, Missouri (1827).
Silas Bent Jr. was born on April 4, 1768, in Rutland, Massachusetts. His father, Silas Bent Sr., was involved with the Ohio Company, which aimed to settle the western frontier. In 1789, young Silas traveled west to scout land and eventually settled in Marietta, Ohio. By the early 1790s, Bent moved to Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), where he studied law under the influential attorney Philip Doddridge. Though Bent found limited prospects in law at the time, his Wheeling experience laid the foundation for his later legal career. He moved to Charleston, Virginia, where he married Martha Kerr in 1798. Bent later relocated to Missouri, where he became a respected land surveyor and served as a judge on the Missouri Supreme Court from 1817 to 1821. He and Martha had eleven children, including Charles Bent, the first territorial governor of New Mexico. Silas Bent died on November 20, 1827, in St. Louis, Missouri, and was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery. His Wheeling years were formative, connecting him to frontier legal networks and shaping a legacy that extended across the American West.
To learn more: Wikipedia – Silas Bent (judge) (https://tinyurl.com/yajft6zh), FamilySearch – Silas Bent (https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KTHP-QZM/silas-bent-1768-1827) (https://tinyurl.com/362n8fn3), Brooke County WV Genealogy (https://tinyurl.com/bdcs7ram), Find a Grave – Silas Bent (https://tinyurl.com/3nw88fn7)
Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons
Silas Bent Jr. was born on April 4, 1768, in Rutland, Massachusetts. His father, Silas Bent Sr., was involved with the Ohio Company, which aimed to settle the western frontier. In 1789, young Silas traveled west to scout land and eventually settled in Marietta, Ohio. By the early 1790s, Bent moved to Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), where he studied law under the influential attorney Philip Doddridge. Though Bent found limited prospects in law at the time, his Wheeling experience laid the foundation for his later legal career. He moved to Charleston, Virginia, where he married Martha Kerr in 1798. Bent later relocated to Missouri, where he became a respected land surveyor and served as a judge on the Missouri Supreme Court from 1817 to 1821. He and Martha had eleven children, including Charles Bent, the first territorial governor of New Mexico. Silas Bent died on November 20, 1827, in St. Louis, Missouri, and was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery. His Wheeling years were formative, connecting him to frontier legal networks and shaping a legacy that extended across the American West.
To learn more: Wikipedia – Silas Bent (judge) (https://tinyurl.com/yajft6zh), FamilySearch – Silas Bent (https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KTHP-QZM/silas-bent-1768-1827) (https://tinyurl.com/362n8fn3), Brooke County WV Genealogy (https://tinyurl.com/bdcs7ram), Find a Grave – Silas Bent (https://tinyurl.com/3nw88fn7)
Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons
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