James Clinton Dent was born into slavery in 1855 in Charles County, Maryland. It is believed that he gained his freedom after the United States’ abolition of slavery in 1864. In the 1870s, Dent moved to Washington, D.C., where he took up residence in a part of the city known as “the island” that was separated from the rest of D.C. by the Washington and James Creek canals. Dent married his wife Mary and worked as a laborer for several years. In 1885, Mary Dent was one of 26 parishioners…
