Bruce Dent – stories of Then

1844-5 | Estimated Birth Year

George was born in DC.

Based on the 1850 & 1860 Census
1850 | Residence in Ward 7 of Washington City

He is living with his parents, Bruce and Cassandra Dent, in Ward 7 of DC.

According to the census, George attended school, most likely founded by Enoch Ambush, who ran a school for Black children in southwest DC. Ambush ran a school at 10th and E Street. Additionaly, Ambush was a friend of Anthony Bowen who helped form one of the few schools for free blacks, the “Sunday Evening School”, in the Wesley Church, now the Metropolitan A.M.E.Z. Church on D Street SW.

Based on the 1850 Census
1860 | Residence in Ward 7 of Washington City

He is living with his parents, Bruce and Cassandra Dent, in Ward 7 of DC. He is a teenager now, although no occupation is listed for him.

Based on the 1860 Census
1868-1869 | Arrest

In Nov 1868, the Evening Star reports that “large crowd of colored population assembled near the Lincoln Barracks” to witness the laying of a cornerstone for “East Mission”, of Israel Methodist Episcopal Church. “There was considerable confusion and disturbance in the outskirts of the crowd during the evening confined principally to boys, and with that exception everything passed off quietly and peaceably.”

In Dec 1868, the National Republican reports that George Dent was arrested on suspicious of participation in riot near Lincoln Barracks on Thanksgiving Day.

In Jan 1869, the Evening Star reports that he was sentenced to three months in jail for resisting arrest. In the National Republican, it was reported that Geo Dent, Geo Poole, and Barney Clinkett were found guilty and Clinkett was sent to jail for 39 days for the riot, while Dent when away for three months for resisting arrest.
1869 | Driver

He is listed in the City Directory as a driver. He is living at the address that is consistent with Bruce Dent in the 1860s, 585 3d W.
1870 | Residence in Ward 7

George is living in the household of Silas and Fannie Greeley. Cyrus Greeley is listed in the 1871 City Directory as a cook living at 209 F SW. George is living about a block east of his father’s home on 3rd Street.
1870s | Bricks

In 1872, he is listed as a bricklayer at 513 3rd St SW. This is his father’s address, after DC updated the numbering system for addresses in 1869. In 1877, he is listed as bricklayer living in Willow Tree Alley, which is located between B and C and 3d and 4 1/2 SW.

1910 Photograph of Willow Tree Alley as it appeared in the Washington Times | the alley was razed in 1913
1874 | Affair & Arrest

In May 1874, The Evening Start reported that Louisa Edelin, George Dent and Isabella Dent were arrested for assault and battery on John Edelin. The article reports that George Dent and Louisa Edelin (John’s wife) had been having an affair and when John found out, he addressed the trio. They assaulted him with paving stones. In Dec of 1874, George was fined $5 for his part in the assault.
1878 | Arrest for Assault

In Sept 1878, The Evening Start reported that George Dent, a hackman, was charged with assault and battery with intent to kill; he was arrested for a dispute over change from a newspaper that the boy was selling at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Depot. The Depot was located in Armory square, at 6th and B NW, immediately southeast of Center Market. The defense was able to show that the incident was an accident.

Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station | DC Public Library
1879 | Profane Language and Vagrancy

In 1879, George R. Dent was arrested twice, once for profane language, and for vagrancy for which he “was sent down to the farm.”
1880 | Residence in Ward 7 of Washington City

He is living in the household of Emma Johnson and Emma Walker, near Willow Tree Alley, on 4 and 1/2 Street. In 1882, the Critic reported that George pleaded guilty for assaulting Emma Walker and spent 7 days in jail.

Based on the 1880 Census
1884 | Soliciting fares

In 1884, Geo. Dent was charged with soliciting hack fares in the Capitol Grounds, as reported in the National Republican.
1889 | Disorderly Conduct

In 1889, the Evening Star reported that “a small bald-headed” George Dent was charged with disorderly conduct at the Fisherman’s hall. The Order of Galilean Fisherman was a benevolent society established after the Civil War to help the newly emancipated Black people. It stressed equality and financial literacy. The map is an excerpt from Baist’s real estate atlas and shows square 538, where Bruce Dent held property in the 1850’s and 1860s. George lived in lots 26 of this square in the 1870. The Temple of Galillean Fisherman can be seen in the north half of square 539, off of F street.
1890 | Fast driving

In 1890, George Dent was accused of driving fast (faster than 8mph). He was a hackman who drove a Surrey and picked up fares at the Baltimore and Potomac Depot. A lawyer for Dent claimed that the animal could go that fast as he had driven him and was lame in one foot. The officer countered that the horse the lawyer had tested wasn’t the animal the Dent had driven. Dent was charged $5.

Surrey, 1900; in the Suffolk Museum and Carriage House, Stony Brook, Long Island, N.Y. | Encyclopædia Britannica
1897 | Accident at Brickmaker Factory

The Evening times reported that George Dent fell from a kiln at Ford’s brickyard. He sustained a head injury and was taken to Providence Hospital.
1900 | Residence in northeast DC | Schott’s Alley

He is living in the household of Harry Hall. His occupation is listed as a hackman and his birth month is recorded as June.

Based on the 1900 Census
1901 | Death Reported

His death is reported in the Evening Star.

Further Research Needed:

Locate his death certificate from DC Archives
Research connections between George Dent and the names reported with him in the articles

Bruce Dent | Nonesuch property

Known Information

Bruce Dent owned property in DC during the 1850s and 1860s. He is listed as living “East of Seventh Street” in the 1870 Census.

Sources

1870 Census

1870; Census Place: East of Seventh Street, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: M593_127; Page: 726B

Map

Map of the District of Columbia including the cities of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, Virginia. [Washington?: s.n, 1873] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/88693472/.

A complete set of surveys and plats of properties in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, 1887, plate 44 | DC Library

Newspapers

National Republican
Washington, District of Columbia
24 Jul 1875, Sat • Page 9

The Critic
Washington, District of Columbia
19 Jan 1889, Sat • Page 17

Washington Times
Washington, District of Columbia
20 Mar 1896, Fri • Page 3

Secondary Sources

Rural Remnants of Washington County: An Architectural Survey of Washington’s Historic Farms and Estates | DC Planning Commission

Anacostia Neighborhood Museum., & Hutchinson, L. D. (1977). Anacostia Story: 1608-1930. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

East of the River: Continuity and Change by Portia James

Bruce Dent is listed as a farmer in the 1870 census; he is listed in the district “East of Seventh Street”, encompassing the large agricultural tracts beyond the city boundary. In the map, this district is reflected by the First District and eastern part of Second District. Seventh Street can be identified by the subdivision of Mt. Pleasant and Howard University.

Bruce Dent is listed in the National Republican for delinquent taxes for 5 acres of property in Nonesuch in 1875 (24 Jul 1875, p 9). His property borders I. M. Young’s property as well as the Trimble Tract.

Nonesuch

George Washington Young, the grandson of Notley Young, owned property across the Eastern Banch. He owned both Giesborough Manor and Nonesuch prior to the war. He inherited Nonesuch (both the mansion and the estate) in 1826 and purchased the Giesborough tract in 1833. The Nonesuch estate was along the Oxon Run watershed. Young had a house built for his daughter Mary upon her marriage to Col. Denman.

Hopkins, Griffith Morgan, Jr. Atlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including the County of Prince George, Maryland. Philadelphia: G.M. Hopkins, 1878.

The residence of both Young and Denmead can be seen on the southern part of this excerpt from Plate 77 of the Hopkins Map. It is along Bowen Road. Bruce Dent is also labeled along Bowen Road, his name on the right side of the road.

This corresponds with City Directories that lists him as living on Bowen Road, which was named for Sayles Jenk Bowen, elected mayor in 1868 and a staunch supporter of civil rights for Black people.

The excerpt from the 1887 Plat Book shows the size and relative location of the property along Bowen Road. In 1889, the Critic lists properties with assessed taxes, and includes his property, identifying it as plat 24, Nonsuch. (19 Jan 1889, page 17)

In 1896, The Washington Times reported that Bruce transferred 2 acres of the land to Benjamin Boyd.

Further Research Needed:

Locate the land records in the DC Archives
Identify Bruce Dent’s relationship to Benjamin Boyd

Bruce Dent | the Island property

Known Information

Bruce Dent is listed in the 1860 census with real estate valued at $750; he was a huckster who sold produce in the market.

Sources

Map

Tanner, Henry Schenck, and S. Augustus Mitchell. City of Washington. [Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1846] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/88694050/

Keily, James, and Lloyd Van Derveer. Map of the city of Washington D.C.: established as the permanent seat of the government of the U.S. of Am. Camden, N.J.: Lloyd Van Derveer, 1851. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/88694049/.

Tax Assessments

Appendix 3, p. 162 of Brown, L. W. (1972). Free negroes in the district of Columbia 1790-1846. New York U.P.

City Directory

Washington, District of Columbia, City Directory, 1864

The Island

Southwest DC was called the Island as a result of the Tiber Creek and James Canal which effectively cut it off from the rest of the City. Most of the land in southwest DC had been part of Notley Young’s plantation, which had been donated to the government for the city. James Greenleaf, a real estate speculator, purchased the land from the government in return for a promise to build ten new homes a year. He was unable to deliver that promise as he was unable to secure funds. The land, cut off by the canal, was slow to develop in the 1800s. It contained old plantations, industrial facilities and assortment of workmen’s homes. The southern most point was called Greenleaf Point.

King, N. Map of part of the city of Washington, shewing the situation of the mansion house, grave yard & buildings, belonging to Mr. Notley Young: original proprietor of that part of the city. [Washington, D.C.?: s.n., ?, 1796] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/88693256/.

In 1845, Bruce Dent was listed in the District of Columbia Tax Records. He was assessed for property in square 499 at $1.50. The 1850 census listed his real estate valued $246

Square 499 was along 4 1/2 Street which was a thoroughfare through The Island. The map excerpt from 1851 shows how few improvements had been made to the lots in that part of DC, as more of the buildings and properties had been built closer to the Mall and near the wharves and Long Bridge. This suggests that the property in Square 499 had space that allowed for growing produce and/or raising livestock. the 1888 Sanborn Map of DC shows that the alley was named Cow Alley, recalling when livestock were kept here, perhaps.

Bruce Dent first appears in the City Directories in 1858. His address is listed as 585 3rd West. He is listed at this address through the 1850s and 1860s until 1869. This is address corresponds to square 538. It is also along 4 1/2 street.

In 1867, Bruce Dent was listed among the delinquent tax assessments in the Evening Star (14 May 1867, p. 8). It lists three properties: square 538, lot 26 and improvements; square 582, part of lot 19 and improvements, as well as part of lot 20 and improvements. Square 538 from Baist’s Real Estate Atlas is included, showing lot 26 on the 3rd street side of the block about midpoint between E and F street.

Baist, G. Wm, Wm. E Baist, and H. V Baist. Baist’s real estate atlas of surveys of Washington, District of Columbia: complete in four volumes
. Philadelphia: G.W. Baist, -<1911 >, 1909. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/87675120/. Plate 6

Further Research Needed:

Locate land records at the DC Archives for deed related to square 499, square 538, and square 582
Identify Bruce Dent’s residence after 1870

Bruce Dent | huckster

Known Information

Bruce Dent was listed as a huckster on the 1860 Census.

Sources

Quote about Market

Washington Times, 26 Mar 1922, p 16

Tax Assessments

The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Internal Revenue Assessment Lists for the District of Columbia, 1862-1866

City Directory

Washington, District of Columbia, City Directory, 1864

The Seventh Street Market. United States Washington D.C, None. [Photographed between 1861 and 1865, printed between 1880 and 1889] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2013651861/

Although the canal which ran in front of the market was sluggish and unsightly in many respects, … Sailboats and small rowboats were constantly coming to the market bringing men and shining masses of fish. These fish had often been caught during the night and brought to the market at the dawn of the day to entice the busy housewife into the purchase of the delicious Potomac Shad, trout, bass, and other fish. Men in rubber coats stood on the banks of the canal quietly smoking their old brown pipes, while others stood by their stands encouraging the purchase of vegetables, fish or other products.

Centre Market

The Centre Market was located north of the Mall, where the National Archives now stand. Located off of Pennsylvania Avenue, halfway between the Capitol and the White House, near the hotels and boarding houses for congressmen, the market was a bustling place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

It was also called the Marsh Market as it was adjacent to the Tiber Creek, which the fish vendors used to store their wares in wire baskets. The market was often dirty, noisy, and flooded.

Huckster

Street vendors or “hucksters,” farmers, and market men sold fruits, vegetables, and live animals to city-dwelling Washingtonians.
Exhibit on Center Market | national archives

Tax Assessments (1862-1866) listed Bruce Dent alternatively as a retail dealer and a produce dealer. He had licenses for both Center Market and Northern Liberty Market (north of Center Market on Seventh Street). The 1864 Tax Assessment and the 1864 City Directory records stall 284 as Bruce Dent’s.

Further Research Needed:

Locate Dent in other censuses
Determine how he became free (via manumission, purchase, or descent from a free woman)

Known Information

Newspaper Sources

1844-5 | Estimated Birth Year

1850 | Residence in Ward 7 of Washington City

1860 | Residence in Ward 7 of Washington City

1868-1869 | Arrest

1869 | Driver

1870 | Residence in Ward 7

1870s | Bricks

1874 | Affair & Arrest

1878 | Arrest for Assault

1879 | Profane Language and Vagrancy

1880 | Residence in Ward 7 of Washington City

1884 | Soliciting fares

1889 | Disorderly Conduct

1890 | Fast driving

1897 | Accident at Brickmaker Factory

1900 | Residence in northeast DC | Schott’s Alley

1901 | Death Reported

Further Research Needed:

related posts

Known Information

Sources

1870 Census

Map

Newspapers

Secondary Sources

Nonesuch

Further Research Needed:

related posts

Known Information

Sources

Map

Tax Assessments

City Directory

The Island

Further Research Needed:

related posts

Known Information

Sources

Quote about Market

Tax Assessments

City Directory

Centre Market

Huckster

Further Research Needed:

related posts