Lewis Dent

'''Lewis T. Dent''' (also known as Louis Dent, March 3, 1823 – March 22, 1874) was an American explorer, judge, and politician. He was the brother-in-law of Ulysses S. Grant.

Dent was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1823, the son of Frederick Dent and Ellen Wrenshall. He was one of four older brothers of Julia Dent Grant, the future First Lady.<ref>{{cite web |title=First Lady Biography: Julia Grant |url=http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=19 |website=National First Ladies Library |accessdate=June 20, 2020 |archive-date=May 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509083629/http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Dent was considered to be well-educated, having attended the best schools in St. Louis and studying law.<ref name="obit">{{cite journal |editor1-last=Lossing |editor1-first=Benson |title=Obituary: Louis Dent |journal=The American Historical Record |date=1874 |volume=3 |page=287 |publisher=Chase & Town}}</ref> In 1846, Dent served as a civilian clerk to paymaster Major James H. Cloud who accompanied the Mormon Battalion to California during the Mexican-American War. Lewis and his brother John's names were found etched at Signature Rock in Oklahoma.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Henson |first1=Kevin |title=Trek Completion Report |journal=The Valiant |date=2009 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=6 |url=http://www.mormonbattalion.com/File/a45d1888-d914-450a-bf52-05e96f2c9e10 |accessdate=June 20, 2020}}</ref>

Dent later married a daughter of Judge Baine.<ref name="garner239">{{cite book |last1=Garner |first1=James Wilford |title=Reconstruction in Mississippi |date=1901 |publisher=Macmillan Company |page=239}}</ref> Dent served as a judge on the Superior Court of California until he resigned in 1849.<ref>{{cite book |title=History of Sonoma County [Cal.]: Including Its Geology, Topography, Mountains, Valleys and Streams; with a Full and Particular Record of the Spanish Grants; Its Early History and Settlement |date=1880 |publisher=Alley, Bowen & Company |page=134}}</ref> He was a delegate at the first Constitutional Convention of California in 1849.<ref name="garner239"/> After the shooting death of William Knight on November 9, 1849, John and Lewis Dent took over the operation of Knight's Ferry.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kyle |first1=Douglas |title=Historic Spots in California |date=2002 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0804778175 |edition=5th}}</ref> The post office for Knight's Ferry was opened on July 28, 1851, and Lewis Dent became its first postmaster.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brotherton |first1=I. N. |title=Annals of Stanislaus County: River towns and ferries |date=1982 |publisher=Western Tanager Press |isbn=0934136297 |page=95}}</ref> Alongside his brother, Dent ran the ferry and hotel and was named justice of the peace. In 1858, he moved to Stockton, California, and practiced law.<ref name="tinkham">{{cite book |last1=Tinkham |first1=George Henry |title=History of Stanislaus County California: With Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men and Women of the County who Have Been Identified with Its Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present |date=1921 |publisher=Historic Record Company |page=73}}</ref>

In 1862, Dent joined the military staff of his brother-in-law, General Grant.<ref name="tinkham"/> Between 1863 and 1867, he was engaged in extensive cotton-growing in Mississippi and Louisiana.<ref name="obit"/> Dent was captured by the Confederates towards the end of the Civil War and spent about a month in custody.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barnickel |first1=Linda |title=Milliken's Bend: A Civil War Battle in History and Memory |date=2013 |publisher=LSU Press |isbn=978-0807149942}}</ref> After Grant was elected president in 1868, Dent took up residence at the White House.<ref name=bowers>{{cite book |last1=Bowers |first1=Claude |title=The Tragic Era - The Revolution After Lincoln |date=2011 |publisher=Read Books Ltd |isbn=978-1446546888}}</ref>

Dent ran for Governor of Mississippi in the state's 1869 election, and was nominated as the gubernatorial candidate for the National Union Republican Party ticket.<ref name="garner239"/> He was supported by conservatives in both parties, and the Democratic party opted not to field a candidate but to support Dent.<ref>Garner 1901, p. 240</ref> However, Grant did not support his brother-in-law, as he opposed his white supremacist views.<ref name=bowers/> Dent was defeated in his gubernatorial ambitions by the wealthy planter James L. Alcorn.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abbott |first1=Richard |title=For Free Press and Equal Rights: Republican Newspapers in the Reconstruction South |date=2004 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=0820325279 |page=138}}</ref> After losing the election, Grant named him minister to Chile.<ref name="tinkham"/> At the end of his life, Dent became a Roman Catholic. He died in Washington, D.C., in March 1874.<ref name="obit"/>

==References== {{reflist}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dent, Lewis}} Category:1823 births Category:1874 deaths Category:19th-century American politicians Category:Politicians from St. Louis Category:California lawyers Category:People of Missouri in the American Civil War Category:American white supremacists Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:19th-century American judges