100 years ago in The Record
Sunday, Dec. 22, 1918
As news of casualties from the world war has finally slowed, Trojans are saddened by news of the death of a veteran of earlier wars. Major General Jacob Ford Kent was not a Troy soldier, but following his retirement from active duty he became, in The Record’s words, “one of our first citizens.” Kent dies at his Spring Avenue home today at the age of 83. “Despite General Kent’s advanced age, his death was unexpected, coming as a shock to his many friends and acquaintances,” our reporter writes. A native of Philadelphia, Kent graduated from West Point in 1861and rose to the rank of major during the Civil War. During the Spanish-American War of 1898 Kent was appointed first brigadier general and then major general of volunteers. “He will be remembered as the commanding officer in the most important campaign of the American army in Cuba, although politics shifted much of the credit to one who had nothing to do with the result,” an editorial writer notes. Kent was the victorious commander at the Battle of San Juan Hill, while Theodore Roosevelt, instantly identified with the location, actually fought at nearby Kettle Hill. Upon retiring from the military Kent moved to Watervliet, where he took up residence at the Arsenal before acquiring a home in Troy. He was a trustee of RPI, Russell Sage College and the Emma Willard School.
“Vitally interested in education, a strong power in the religious life of the community, a delightful companion and charming conversationalist, his friends were legion,” our writer recalls. “The lustre of his military record enhanced the reputation of Troy. The kindliness of his character made him an inspiration to the city’s life.
“Troy is much richer for his twenty years of residence here and in Watervliet, and it is much the poorer through his death.”
Two Desired Nations
A Sunday Budget editorial today observes that “suppressed nations may be revived” after the collapse of several empires at the end of the world war. Two nations in particular “carry the hopes and aspirations of more people than do any other two of the prospective or advocated governments.”
One is Ireland, “the birthplace of the civilization of western Europe.” The other is Palestine, “the cradle of the regeneration of the human race” and “the home, the nation of the Hebrew.”
If neither land gets its independence, “the horrors of another war may not result, but the minds and hearts of millions of noble men and women, who have shared in all the sacrifices for liberty, will not know and feel the peace to which they are entitled.”