John Edmonson Brent (1889 - 1962)

Born 8 Aug 1889 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Ancestors

Died 22 Oct 1962 at age 73 in Buffalo, Erie, New York, United States

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Biography

John Brent is Notable.

John E. Brent is considered to be the first African-American architect in Buffalo, New York, as well as the founder and first president of the Buffalo branch of the NAACP.^[1]

John Edmonson Brent was born in August of 1889 in Washington, D.C.^[2] He was the son of Calvin Brent, the first African-American architect in Washington, D.C., and Albertine Jones. John was their youngest child, and both his parents died before he was 10 years old. He was then raised by his older sister, Emma Brent, a schoolteacher, and other siblings.^[2]

Research Note

• His middle name, Edmonson, was his maternal grandmother's maiden name. While some recorders, including the U.S. Selective Service, have his name as John "Edmonston" Brent, we've found no basis for that spelling; in the case of the Selective Service record, a government employee filled out the draft card, and John signed -- as "John E. Brent," which is how he always seems to have signed. The American Institute of Architects, of which he was a member, also calls him John "Edmonston" Brent, but they don't give the basis for the spelling, and, perhaps understandably, seem unaware of the depth of his genealogy. A Family Search descendancy chart lists some of his Edmonson ancestors, including his grandmother, Elizabeth Edmonson Brent, and her siblings. Two of her younger sisters and four younger brothers were part of a famous attempted escape from slavery by ship in 1848, now known as the Pearl Incident; much has been written about his grandmother's famous Edmonson sisters.

In the fall of 1912, John married Pennsylvanian Neeton Cook in Washington, D.C.^[3][4]

Known children of the marriage:

1. Janice Brent (1913)
2. Robert Brent (1930)

He graduated from the Tuskegee Institute and the Drexel Institute of Art Science and Technology in Philadelphia before moving with his wife and child to Buffalo, New York,^[5] prior to June of 1917.^[6] In 1920^[7] and 1930 John was working in Buffalo as a draftsman,^[8] but by 1940 he was listed in the census as architect for the city of Buffalo.^[9]

Among his noted designs are the Michigan Avenue YMCA (demolished in 1977), which would become a cultural center of Buffalo’s African American community, and the entry court and two iron gates for the 1875 Olmsted-designed Buffalo Zoo. The Buffalo Zoo Entrance Court was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.^[10] During his tenure for the city’s parks department from 1935 to 1957, he planned and designed 18 facilities and exhibits. According to New York State Historic Preservation Office (NYSHPO) architects Everett L. Fly and Ellen P. Hunt, AIA, writing in the National Register Nomination for Brent’s gates and forecourt, "Brent played a major role in transforming the layout of the zoo from an outline into an elaborately detailed neoclassical garden influenced by the City Beautiful movement."^[1]

John E. Brent died in the fall of 1962,^[11][12] and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York.^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} William Richards, "Pioneering Architects: Calvin T.S. Brent and John E. Brent," American Institute of Architects, (AIA.org), (January 14, 2021, Updated March 3, 2021).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1}
   • 1900 US Census, John E Brent, age 10, brother, living with older sister as Head, 4 siblings. At School. Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1240160. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Free Ancestry Image
   • "United States Census, 1900", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:66K6-8SWC : 15 February 2022), John E Brent in entry for Emma E Brent, 1900.

   Emma E Brent Head Female 21 District Of Columbia

   Ralph E Brent Brother Male 19 District Of Columbia

   Alfred Brent Brother Male 17 District Of Columbia

   Clarence Brent Brother Male 15 District Of Columbia

   Ernestine Brent Sister Female 13 District Of Columbia

   John E Brent Brother Male 11 District Of Columbia

3. ↑ 1912 Marriage: District of Columbia, 5 Oct 1912, John E Brent, age 23, to Neeton E Cook, age 25, FHL Film #2108516, Ancestry.com. Washington, D.C., U.S., Compiled Marriage Index, 1830-1921 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2014. Original data: District of Columbia, Marriages, 1830-1921. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
4. ↑ "District of Columbia Marriages, 1830-1921", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWMM-MBH : 11 January 2020), John E. Brent and Neeton E. Cook, Marriage, 5 Oct 1912, District of Columbia, United States.

   Sex: Male, Age: 23, Marital Status: Single, Ethnicity: American, Race: Col, Birth Year (Estimated): 1889, Spouse's Name: Neeton E. Cook, Spouse's Sex: Female, Spouse's Age: 25, Spouse's Marital Status: Single, Spouse's Race: Col, Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): 1887.

5. ↑ William Richards' article, Pioneering Architects: Calvin T.S. Brent and John E. Brent," for The American Institute of Architects says that he graduated and moved in 1912.
6. ↑ "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXTN-VSH : 26 December 2021), John Edmonston Brent, 1917-1918.
7. ↑
   • "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJ2P-KNH : 2 February 2021), John E Brent, 1920.

   John E Brent Head Male 30 District Of Columbia

   Netton Brent Wife Female 31 Pennsylvania

   Janice Brent Daughter Female 8 District Of Columbia

   • 1920 US Census, John E Brent, age 30, bp DC, Draftsman in Architect Office, with wife Netton and 1 child, Year: 1920; Census Place: Buffalo Ward 17, Erie, New York; Roll: T625_1104; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 137. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Free Ancestry Image
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7CK-YK9 : accessed 10 September 2022), John E Brent, Buffalo (Districts 1-250), Erie, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 155, sheet 6B, line 71, family 138, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1427; FHL microfilm 2,341,162.

   John E Brent Head Male 35 District Of Columbia

   N*Ton E Brent Wife Female 33 Pennsylvania

9. ↑
   • 1940 US Census, John Brent, age 51, bp D.C., Architect for City of Buffalo, completed 4 yrs college, with wife Neeton and son Robert, Year: 1940; Census Place: Buffalo, Erie, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02831; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 64-263. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Free Ancestry Image
   • "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQ53-K5J : 26 January 2020), John Brent, Ward 12, Buffalo, Buffalo City, Erie, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 64-263, sheet 9B, line 63, family 264, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2831.

   John Brent Head Male 51 District Of Columbia

   Neeton Brent Wife Female 49 Pennsylvania

   Robert Brent Son Male 11 New York

10. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places Listings," Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 5/20/13 through 5/24/13, National Park Service, 2013-05-31.
11. ↑ "New York State Health Department, Genealogical Research Death Index, 1957-1963," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2CH6-WY5 : 11 February 2018), John Brent, 22 Oct 1962; citing Death, Buffalo, Erie, New York, file #71972, New York State Department of Health—Vital Records Section, Albany.
12. ↑ 1962 Death: New York State, John Brent, age 73, d. 22 Oct 1962. Ancestry.com. New York State, U.S., Death Index, 1957-1969 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018. Original data: New York State Department of Health. Genealogical Research Death Index. Albany, New York.
13. ↑ Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7405919/john-e.-brent Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/7405919/john-e.-brent : accessed 23 June 2021), memorial page for John E. Brent (8 Aug 1889–22 Oct 1962), Find A Grave: Memorial #7405919, citing Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, Erie County, New York, USA; Maintained by Find A Grave.

See also:

• John Edmonson Brent Exhibit at Burchfield Penney Art Center