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THE KENT CONNECTION
There was a strong connection between the Beals and Kent
families. There were at least six intermarriages. Isaac Kent
married Rachel Beal, daughter of Andrew and their daughter,
Abigail, married Andrew's grandson Abel. Zarah (son of
Isaac) Kent's daughter, Catherine, married Isaac (son of
Abel) Beals. Arod (another son of Isaac) Kent's son, Micah,
married Sarah Jane Beals, daughter of Stephen and
granddaughter of Abel. Isaac's brother, Ebenezer and sister,
Mercy also married a Beal. Confused? Perhaps a "picture"
will help. Andrew Beals
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Abel Rachel Isaac Kent
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Abel Abigail Zarah Arod
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Stephen Isaac Catherine |
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Sarah Jane Micah
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The Kent name originated in England and was brought to North America by John who came to Dedham, Mass. in 1645. His father's name was also John. The genealogy for John, the immigrant, follows: JOHN KENT, m.21 May 1662 in Dedham, Mass., Hannah (d.9 Jan 1690), dau of Francis and Mary Griswald. They had issue, all born in Charlestown, Mass.:
EBENEZER, the youngest son of John and Hannah, moved to Hingham, Mass. about 1703, married in nearby Situate and died in Hingham. Details of his family follow:
In 1755 the Seven Year War between Britain and France was
getting under way and the colonial government in Nova Scotia
was becoming very apprehensive about which side the French
Acadian population would take if France invaded the country. The government, under Charles Lawrence, was not prepared to
wait and see so they decided to deport the Acadians. They
were forced to leave the land they had occupied for
generations and were shipped out of the country with the
majority sent to what is now the state of Louisiana. This
resulted in a lot of rich farm land in the Annapolis Valley
and the Cornwallis area being left vacant. So in 1758 and
1759 Governor Lawrence sent advertisements to the American
Colonies inviting Protestant settlers to come and fill up
this vacant land. Isaac and Rachel Kent took up this challenge and became part of a group now known as the "Planters". Their trip is described in "Planters and Pioneers" by Esther Clark Wright: On May 17, 1760, 25 heads of families, making with wives and children 45 passengers, were embarked at Boston on board the Charming Molly. There were also on board 10 oxen, 11 cows, 2 horses, 10 sheep, 1 "sow bigg with piggs", 6 lambs and 7 small cattle. The vessel, one suspects, was not so charming when she arrived at Annapolis. On June 19 the Charming Molly again sailed from Boston with ten more settlers for Annapolis. In 1760 both Rachel and Isaac were 41 and there were seven children in the family, five having died before this date (including one set of twins in 1759). One additional child was born in Nova Scotia. They brought with them two oxen and one cow. Isaac was given a grant of land in Annapolis County bordering on the Annapolis River in the area now known as Round Hill. It was directly across the river from Belleisle. The size of the grant is not known but in 1770 Isaac owned 1498 acres. We can assume that at least part of this was well developed land which only five years earlier had been cultivated by the deposed Acadians. Details of Isaac Kent's family are as follows:
Ten years after the Kents arrived in Nova Scotia the 1770
census indicates there were nine in the family: 1 man,
3 boys, 3 women, and 2 girls. Strangely, the census for 1768
only counted seven but the number of farm animals had
certainly increased during the eight year period and
included: 1 horse, 2 cows, 9 oxen, 7 young cattle, 10 sheep
and 2 swine.
Two of Isaac's sons, Zarah and Arod, also owned land in the
Round Hill area. The fifth generation of Kents occupied at
least part of the original grant of land as late as the
1940's. (Stanley, born 1889 -- Watson, born 1848 -- Micah --
Arod -- Isaac). |
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