Joseph Gordon Kent Papers 1850s-1927

Access and use

Location of collection:
Wytheville Community College
F.B. Kegley Library
Wytheville Community College
Smyth Hall, Room 103
1000 East Main Street
Wytheville, VA 24382
Contact for questions and access:
POC: William A. “Bill” Veselik
Phone: (276) 223-4876
POC: George Mattis
Phone: (276) 223-4744
Fax: (276) 223-4745

Summary

Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Series I, Correspondence (1869-1927, undated) contains letters to and from Joseph Gordon Kent regarding the lawsuit between him and his half-brother David Cloyd Kent over the settlement of their father's estate. Respondent include David Cloyd Kent, Jane L. McKee Kent, Judith Elizabeth Ligon Kent, Mary Randolph Kent, William I. Carper, and R. I. Gardner. Other letters between Joseph Gordon Kent and Thomas F. Walker during the 1900s pertain to a dispute over mineral rights on the Boyd land on Walker Mountain. Also included are letters between Joseph Gordon Kent, Charlotte Kent, W. Ulman, and A. D. Preston regarding the estate of the Meaux family in New Orleans (Maternal family of Mary Randolph Kent, wife of Joseph Gordon Kent).

Series II, Legal Records (1869-1927, undated), contains documents relating to the lawsuit between David Cloyd Kent and Joseph Gordon Kent over the estate of their father, Gordon Cloyd Kent. Included are reporters (printed copies of case briefs, etc.) and printed appeals, etc., notes, and advertisements for the sale of family land. Also included are documents and notes relating to the case of D. A. Preston vs. Joseph G. Kent.

Series III, Financial records (1850s-1900s), contains statements, receipts, and tax records relating to the case of Joseph Gordon Kent vs. David Cloyd Kent.

Series IV, Photographs (1890, undated), contains two photographs of land in Max Meadows.

Series V, Land Records (1904, undated), contains a map of the Boyd Coal and Iron Lands in Wythe County and handwritten transcripts of deeds between James R. Kent and Gordon Cloyd Kent, E. thurston and James E. Remington, and James R. Kent and James E. Remington.

Series VI, Photocopies (1788-1930, undated) contains photocopies of letters and documents of Joseph Kent (1765-1843). Also included are letters of his son Gordon Cloyd Kent (1806-1869), and his sons David Cloyd Kent (1833-1902), Joseph Gordon Kent (1851-1938). Letters of the Meaux family of New Orleans and the Randolph family of Virginia and California are also included; Dr. Thomas Oliver Meaux (1792-1871, his wife Eliza Eustis Nash Meaux (b. 1802), and his daughter Tarmesia Meaux Randolph (1824-1908). The latter married Edmund Randolph (1819-1861) and had daughters Margaret Randolph, Lucy Nelson Randolph, and Mary Cary Randolph Kent (1855-1922).

Biographical / historical:

Gordon Cloyd Kent, the son of Col. Joseph Kent (1765-1843) and Margaret McGavock Kent (1769-1837) was born in Wythe County on 29 June 1806. He married Margaret Cloyd (1812-1833) on 14 March 1832; their child was David Cloyd Kent (1833-1902). He next married Lucinda Cloyd who died in 1843 without bearing children. On 19 April 1850 Kent married Jane L. McKee (1812-1883; they had one son Joseph Gordon Cloyd (1851-1838). Gordon Cloyd Kent died on 18 September 1869 at his home on Reed Creek in Wythe County.

David Cloyd Kent, son of Gordon Cloyd Kent (1806-1869) and Margaret Cloyd, was born on 3 May 1833. He married Judith Elizabeth Ligon (1831-1900) and had the following children: Josephine Cloyd Kent (1855-1877), Margaret A. Kent Langhorne (1857-1931), Eveline P. Kent Mebane (1858-1926), Alice Gordon (1859-1961), Sallie James Kent (1860), Gordon Cloyd Kent (1863-1876), Lizzie Ligon Kent Laughon (b. 1865), James Ligon Kent (1857-1950), David McGavock (1869), unnamed infant (1870), and Lucy Bentley (1873). David Cloyd Kent died in April 1902.

Joseph Gordon Kent, the son of Gordon Cloyd Kent (1863-1876), Lizzie Ligon Kent Laughon (b. 1865), James Ligon Kent (1857-1950), David McGavock (1869), unnamed infant (1870), and Lucy Bentley (1873). David Cloyd Kent died in April 1902.

Joseph Gordon Kent, the son of Gordon Cloyd Kent and this third wife Jane L. McKee, was born in Wythe County on 1 November 1851. He married Mary Carey Randolph, daughter of Edmund Randolph and Tarmesia Meaux, on 31 August 1876. They had six children including Lucy Randolph Kent (1877-1968), Charlotte Kent (1887-1987), Gordon Cloyd Kent (1888-1920), Edmund Randolph Kent (1890-1955), Hugh McElwee Kent (b. 1892), Mary Randolph Kent (1893-1895) and Arthur Meaux Kent (1896-1893).

David Cloyd Kent and his half-brother Joseph Gordon were involved in a bitter lawsuit regarding disposition of the estate of their father Gordon Cloyd Kent. David Cloyd Kent served as administrator of the estate. the net surplus after payment of debts to H. McG. Kent and the estate of James R. Kent was $20,715.50.

After the death of Gordon Cloyd Kent in 1869, his sons and widow agreed to jointly manage the farm and use its profits to pay debts from his estate. On 28 March 1874, they agreed to a hotchpot statement which divided Kent's estate and on 6 May 1874 signed the statement. In August 1897, however, Joseph Gordon Kent filed suit against David Cloyd Kent, alleging that his brother failed to record settlement of the estate including any assets received and debts he paid. Joseph Kent also desired that any remaining assets be divided as one third to David Cloyd Kent and two thirds to himself, claiming his mother's portion as his. Jane L. McKee Kent died in 1883.

David Cloyd Kent responded to the lawsuit by saying that he had paid off all debts and had made "large payments" to his brother and step-mother. He argued that after four years of co-management of the farm, using profits to pay estate debts, that all estate accounts had been settled. Kent further stated that he had kept a detailed account of all transactions even thought he had not made a settlement of his administrative accounts. Kent told the court that "the plaintiff is hopelessly insolvent; plaintiff has along known...that your respondent did not owe him anything, and this must be his reason for waiting so long to bring this suit, when he thought he might realize something from a confusion of accounts that might arise from the lapse of time and loss of papers." Kent's son James Ligon Kent handled much of the legal work on this case.

The court appointed M. M. Caldwell as special commissioner to investigate and report on estate records. He presented the court with two separate statements, one for transactions dating from 1869 including all administrative transactions and one based on the hotchpot statement.

The court threw out Statement Number 1 and corrected Statement Number 2 based on the hotchpot agreement of 1874. The court then decided in favor of David Cloyd Kent. Joseph Gordon Kent appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia but that court affirmed the original decision.

The Meaux and Randolph Families

Tarmesia Meaux Randolph (1824-1908) was the daughter of Dr. Thomas Oliver Meaux (1792-1871) of New Orleans and Eliza Eustis Nash Meaux (b. 1802); he was the son of Richard Meaux and Frances Oliver Meaux. Dr. Thomas Oliver Meaux had the following children: Dr. Thomas G. Meaux Jr., John Meaux, Eliza Meaux Boyce, and Tarmesia Meaux Randolph.

Tarmesia Meaux married Edmund Randolph on 7 February 1843 in New Orleans. Randolph practiced law in the city for several years but in 1849 journeyed to California where he worked as a lawyer and journalist. Randolph involved himself in California politics, serving in the legislature. The scheme of William Walker, his employer at the newspaper publishing house, embroiled Randolph; he accompanied walker to Nicaragua to assist with Walker's dream of establishing a slave empire. Though living in California, Randolph remained staunchly in support of slavery and delivered a fiery oration against Lincoln and the North in July 1861. He died of tuberculosis in 1861.

Tarmesia Meaux Randolph and Edmund Randolph had three daughters including Margaret Randolph, Lucy Nelson Randolph, and Mary Carey Randolph Kent. Tarmesia Meaux Randolph eventually settled in Baltimore, Maryland.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Mary B. Kegley in July 1997; additional material donated in 2000.
Physical description:
47 folders.