Richard Brent

Who was Richard Brent?

Richard Brent was an American planter, lawyer, and politician from Stafford County, Virginia. He represented Virginia in both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.

Brent was born in 1757, the eldest son of William Brent and Eleanor Carroll, at his father's estate, 'Richland' on the Potomac River in Stafford County, Virginia. He pursued an education in law and was admitted to the bar and subsequently entered practice. Brent was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates representing Stafford County in 1788 and was elected to represent Prince William County, Virginia in 1793, 1794, 1800 and 1801.

Brent was elected in 1794 to the United States House of Representatives representing Virginia's 17th congressional district for the 4th and 5th Congresses, where he served from March 1795 to March 1799, when he returned to the Virginia House of Delegates. Brent was elected again to the U.S. House and served one two-year term during the 7th Congress from March 1801 to March 1803. He served in the Virginia State Senate from 1808 to 1810.

Following his service in the Virginia State Senate, fellow delegates elected Brent to the United States Senate, where he served from March 1809 until his death in Washington, D.C., on December 30, 1814. He was interred in the family burial ground in Stafford County, near the place of his birth.