Zenas Kent
Zenas Kent was born in Middletown, Conn., July 12, 1786. He came of good old Puritan stock, a nobility of descent which rests its claim upon a robust manhood and hardy virtue. His father was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and carried a musket in the war for American independence.
When Zenas Kent was a boy, even New England had made but a beginning in the development of the common school system, and though he made the best of his opportunities - exhausting the facilities of the country school of that time and place - his early advantages were very limited, as compared to the common-school privileges enjoyed by the youth of today. Mr. Kent has left at least one monument of the methodical perseverance with which he addressed himself to every task. A copy of Adam's Arithmetic, published in 1802, which Mr. Kent used at school, is now in possession of his son Marvin. It is a well-thumbed book, now yellow with age, and a plodding student has left his impress on every page; indeed, he has left considerable additions to the original text. The publisher had had the forethought to bind numerous blank pages with his letter-press, to stand the pupil instead of the slate, and to remain a record of his industry. On these leaves young Kent carefully worked out and proved every example in the book. Here was a combination of excellent traits - application, method, thoroughness - in which the boy well foreshadowed the man. He entered his work on the leaves of the book of his life, and he left not a blank page in it all. In selecting a pursuit in life Zenas Kent chose the trade of his father and to make himself a master of it.
By the time he reached his twenty-fifth year young Zenas Kent was united in marriage with Pamelia Lewis, a native of Farmington, Conn., a young woman of most excellent traits, and withal a fitting helpmeet for him. Her father, like the elder Kent, was a veteran of 1776, and a carpenter and joiner by vocation. The two young people joined their honest hands and humble fortunes for the battle with the world. In 1812 Zenas accompanied his father's family to the far West. The family located in Mantua, Ohio, where the elder Kent died at an advanced age. Zenas had left his young wife in Connecticut while he went prospecting in the Western wilds, and as soon as he had chosen a place for his home he returned for his wife. Together they set out for the tedious journey to the West, and arriving in Ohio, settled in Hudson, then a township in Portage County. This was a fortunate selection for Mr. Kent. Here he met Capt. Herman Oviatt, to whose friendship it was his pleasure to acknowledge himself indebted for many kind offices. Here he built a tannery for Owen Brown, father of John Brown of Ossawatomie fame. Mr. Kent taught school in the winter while he remained in Hudson. His friend, Capt. Oviatt, impressed by Mr. Kent's upright walk and industrious habits, was disposed to do him a good turn, and help him to start fairly in the world. Conferences led to conclusions, and in the summer of 1815 the firm of Oviatt & Kent was formed, to conduct a typical pioneer store, in Ravenna. Thither Mr. Kent went to erect a building before the firm would begin business. The site chosen was that upon which the Second National Bank now stands. With his saw and plane and hammer Mr. Kent helped to put up the wooden building which was to serve for store and dwelling. This building was subsequently moved to the south side of Main Street, in Little's Block. After the firm of Oviatt & Kent had been in successful operation for several years Mr. Kent was able to refund the money advanced by Mr. Oviatt, and the firm dissolved, leaving the junior partner in sole control of the business.
In 1826, while managing his growing business, Mr. Kent entered into a contract to erect the court house, which still stands in Ravenna, one of the most substantial buildings of its kind in the State. In its early days it was looked upon as a wonder in the architectural art. From 1831 to 1850 Mr. Kent was senior partner in the firm of Kent & Brewster, which did a profitable trade in Hudson. In the meantime Mr. Kent was accumulating a store of the world's goods, and making investments where there was fair prospect of good returns. In 1832 he joined David Ladd in the purchase of a tract of Land, embracing between 500 and 600 acres in the township of Franklin, now the village of Kent. This tract embraced the water-power of the Cuyahoga River at that place. The connection of Mr. Ladd with this property was short, Mr. Kent soon becoming sole proprietor. In the year of the purchase he erected Kent's Flouring Mill, the product of which has been held in high repute for more than a third of a century. The mill produced the first flour shipped from northern Ohio to Cleveland, going by way of the Ohio Canal.
Having dissolved business connections with Mr. Ladd, Mr. Kent made arrangements with John Brown to carry on the tanning business in an establishment already under way. In 1836 he sold his large tract to the Franklin Land Company, which afterward became the Franklin Silk Company. In 1849 the Franklin Bank, of Portage county, was established, and Mr. Kent was chosen its President. This important post he held until 1864, when the Franklin Bank gave place to the Kent National Bank, of which he was also made President, holding the position at the time of his death.
In 1850 he began the erection of a cotton factory and a private residence in Franklin, where his interests had centered. Thither he removed, on the completion of his dwelling-house, in 1851. In the spring of 1853 he was elected Treasurer of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company, filling the position efficiently for one year. In April, 1860, he moved into an elegant mansion which he had built on Euclid Avenue, Cleveland. While on a visit to Kent on the 21st of October, 1864, death took from him from the partner of his early toils and of his years of ease. Thus bereft, he longed for quiet and repose, and in the following month he returned to Franklin (the name of which had been changed to Kent) to pass the remainder of his days.
Mr. Kent's business career was that of an industrious plodder, who gained success by deserving it. He was possessed of a great fund of solid common sense, to which it had pleased Got to an indomitable will, native business tact, energy that never flagged, and, above all, an unyielding integrity, which gained him the confidence of all with whom he had relations. He was a cautious, methodical business man, not given to speculation, watchful of little things, and thrifty. An instance will show how dearly he held his integrity and the good opinion of his fellows. While President of the banking department of the Franklin Silk Company, he required to be placed in his hands the means to redeem the company's issues, remarking that he would put his name upon no paper without the power to protect it from dishonor. The arrangement was effected. Nothwithstanding the disastrous termination of the silk company, thanks to Mr. Kent's honor and forethought, its paper was all redeemed at face value.
His life-record was made up of deeds the reflect luster on his memory, and mark him as one of the pioneer noblemen of the West. In personal appearance Zenas Kent was tall of stature, erect and graceful of carriage, dignified of mien. Little given to society, he was, nevertheless, affable and agreeable in all of his relations. Though fair and equitable dealing made him popular as a tradesman, his retiring nature forbade many intimate friendships. While malice did not enter into his heart, the very firmness of his character made him quick to resent an abuse of his confidence. Beneath a dignified exterior, bordering at times upon austerity, he wore a warm and sympathetic heart. He held a kind act in tender remembrance, and the few friendships he formed remained unbroken to the end of his days. His tastes were simple and his habits the most correct. He never used tobacco or stimulants of any kind, and for thirty years did not have an hour's sickness.
Mr. Kent was blessed with a family of thirteen children, nine of whom survive him. These he lived to see arrive at maturity, all occupying positions of prominence and influence in their respective homes. The surviving children are Mrs. Harriet Clapp, of New York City; Henry A., Edward and George L., of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Mrs. Frances E. Wells, of Brownsville, Penn., and Mrs. Emily K., wife of R.B. Dennis, Esq., of Cleveland, Ohio. Of the four children deceased, Mrs. Eliza A. Poag died in Brooklyn July 4, 1864; three - Louisa, Amelia and an unnamed infant - lie in Ravenna Cemetery. Zenas Kent died suddenly, at his residence in Kent, October 4, 1865, in the eightieth year of his age. His remains were interred in Woodland Cemetery, Cleveland's beautiful city of the dead. In a lovely spot, removed from the hurly-burly of a busy world, under the shade of the cypress and willow, by the side of the wife of his bosom, sleeps all that is left to earth of a man who fought the battle of life bravely, and left a good name - the best of all heirlooms.
From History of Portage County, Ohio, Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885