<p style="text-align:center"><strong>JACOB FORD KENT</strong></p><p style="text-align:center"><strong>No. 1918 · Class of 1861</strong></p><p style="text-align:center"><strong>Died December 22, 1918, at Troy, N.Y., aged 83 years.</strong></p><p style="text-align:center"><strong>Interred at West Point, N.Y.</strong></p><p>A definition of a gentleman may be: one who never does, or says, anything in the presence of men that he would not do, or say, in the presence of ladies. Judged by this standard, Jacob Ford Kent, Major-General, U.S. Army, retired, was a gentleman who always manifested consideration for the feelings of others. He was a modest, kindly man and kindled the fires of loving friendship and devotion in the hearts of many in whose memory his face and doings will long abide. On Sunday, the 22nd of December 1918, at his home, Myrtle Avenue, Troy, New York, he went to join his comrades in the wars that he fought, and now in the greatest of wars, just coming to an end, the shock carries with it the sincerest regret throughout the city of Troy, where he abided with his wife and two daughters. General Kent was a soldier of the first class; in the Civil War he proved himself so worthy a leader that he was advanced and brevetted with merited rapidity. It was natural, therefore, that he should have been called upon in the Spanish-American War. He will be remembered by Reade, Sharpe, Tayman, MacArthur and McAlexander as the commanding officer of the 1st Division, 5th Army Corps; the force that assaulted, captured, and held Fort San Juan, Santiago de Cuba July 1st, 1898. After his efficient work in that conflict, he was made a Brigadier-General; he then asked for and received a well merited retirement, settling in Troy. Later, he was, by special Act of Congress, made a Major-General, but without the pay or allowances of that rank. Dwight Marvin, Editor of the Troy Record, said: "Troy will remember General Kent better as a man. He was one of our first citizens. Vitally interested in education, a strong power in the religious life of the community, a delightful companion and charming conversationalist, his friends were legion: carrying with him the military traditions of half a century ago, he was keen to appreciate new methods and endorse modern formulas. There was nothing reactionary about him; he was liberal and intensely American. The lustre of his military record enhanced the reputation of Troy; the kindliness of his character made him an inspiration in the city's life. Troy is much the richer for his twenty years of residence here and in Watervliet, and it is much the poorer through his death." The Rector of St. Paul's church, Troy, N.Y., in his sermon on Christmas morning, spoke as follows of General Kent: "On Sunday morning, December 22, 1918, our beloved senior warden, J. Ford Kent, Major-General United States Army (retired), passed from earth to the wider activities and more abundant life which the Master promised to those who love Him and keep His commandments. His funeral was celebrated in St. Paul's church on the morrow of Christmas and, later in the day, he was buried with military honors at West Point, in the grounds of the Academy from which he was graduated in the memorable year of 1861. He was one of the fifty-seven young second lieutenants that the Government commissioned in haste and emptied into the great maelstrom of the Civil War. His active military career, from his graduation in '61 to his retirement in '98, both in its larger bearings and in the wealth and picturesqueness of its details, forms a page too extended to be recited here. Promotion followed promotion. Again and again, and yet again, he was cited for gallant and meritorious services in the field. At one time taken prisoner, his indomitable pluck and fine physical constitution carried him through the horrors of the Libby Prison. In the Third Infantry and later on General Sedgwick's staff, he made an unbroken record for courage and efficiency. In short, from the beginning down to Gettysburg, and from Gettysburg on to Spottsylvania and the James, he was a continuous and shining part of the bloody drama that played itself out for the salvation of the Union. At the close of the Civil War, he entered on a protracted term of exacting military duties in the West. The year 1898 found him in Cuba, ranking officer of infantry in the victory of San Juan which led to the capitulation of the Spanish army. Of all the official reports relating to the military operations of those exciting days, from June 30 to July 3, inclusive, the report of Brigadier General J. F. Kent, addressed to the Assistant Adjutant General, Fifth Army Corps, detailing the part taken by his command in the Battle of San Juan, is, to my mind,- and reading again those reports yesterday, I am still of the same mind,- the most logical, consistent and illuminating. I read his report first in the columns of the New York Times, during the summer vacation of 1898, admired it greatly, and commented on it in substantially the same terms that I have just now used; and then coming back to my September tasks, I was surprised to find that the writer of that report was to make his home with us in Troy and at St. Paul's. We have had him twenty years. I thank God for the gift! We are all richer for having known him. A religious man and a staunch churchman, he was soon chosen vestryman, and a little later warden of St. Paul's, in which latter office he continued to serve, faithfully and loyally, until the time of his death. But he was not for us alone. Attracted by his gracious personality, high character and life-long services in defense of his country, others made claims upon him-claims to which he unselfishly responded. In trusteeships like those of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Emma Willard School, he ran true to form and discharged his duties with the zeal and fidelity that were characteristic of him in the army and in the church. In manners, he was modest and retiring, spoke seldom of himself and never boasted of his exploits. He was utterly lacking in that unlovely obtrusiveness with which some people force themselves into your regards and then out of your regards. In social converse, he was charming. He expressed himself well, and then listened, interestedly and deferentially, to your reply. His speech was sterling silver; his silences were golden. He belonged to that minority of intellectual and spiritual ability who, without effort, without pushing, find themselves ultimately at the summit. May he rest in peace and may light perpetual shine upon him." PHILIP READE, Brig.-General, U.S.A. Ret'd.</p><p style="text-align:right">� Philip Reade</p><p style="text-align:center"><a href="https://usmalibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/aogreunion/id/15750">Annual Report, June 10, 1919, pp. 229�233 · U.S. Military Academy Library</a></p>