George DENT, Congress, MD (1756-1813)

1756-1813

DENT, George, a Representative from Maryland; born on his father’s estate, “Windsor Castle,” on the Mattawoman, Charles County, Md., in 1756; completed preparatory studies; during the Revolutionary War served as first lieutenant of militia of Charles and St. Marys Counties under Capt. Thomas H. Marshall, and as first lieutenant in the Third Battalion of the Flying Camp Regular Troops of Maryland in 1776; captain in the Twenty-sixth Battalion, Maryland Militia, in 1778; member of the Maryland House of Assembly 1782-1790, serving as speaker pro tempore in 1788 and as speaker in 1789 and 1790; justice of the Charles County Court in 1791 and 1792; member of the State senate in 1791 and 1792, serving as president during the latter year until his resignation on December 21, 1792; elected as a Pro-Administration candidate to the Third Congress and reelected as a Federalist to the Fourth through Sixth Congresses (March 4, 1793-March 3, 1801); chairman, Committee on Elections (Sixth Congress); Speaker pro tempore of the House at various times from 1797 to 1799; appointed by President Jefferson as United States marshal of the District Court for the Potomac District at Washington, D.C., April 4, 1801; moved to Georgia in 1802 and settled about twelve miles from Augusta, where he died December 2, 1813; interment on his plantation.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present