Washington Co., AR - Biographies - Josiah W. M. Trent

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Josiah W. M. Trent was born in Washington County, Ark., on the 22d of 
February, 1842, in the house where he now lives. His grandfather, 
Henry Trent, was one of twelve brothers, nearly all of whom served in 
the Revolutionary War, and was born and reared in Virginia. For his 
services during the war he was given a land warrant of ninety-nine 
acres by the Government, where the city of Milledgeville, Ga., now 
stands, and afterward became a very extensive land-holder about Grand 
Gulf, Miss., but neglecting to give proper attention to this very 
valuable property in each of these States, it passed into other hands 
without profit to him or his posterity. He located in Louisiana, and 
after living there for some time moved to the Choctaw Nation, where he 
died at the ripe old age of about eighty-three years. His son Josiah 
was born near Milledgeville, Ga., about 1802, and grew to manhood in 
Mississippi, Louisiana, and the Choctaw Nation. He obtained his 
education by his own efforts, studying evenings by the light of the 
fire, and in February, 1829, he came to Washington County, Ark., where 
he entered a good tract of land, on which he erected a comfortable 
dwelling-house. February 21, 1833, he was married to Sallie Woolsey, 
who was born in Illinois on the 22d of February, 1813, and their union 
resulted in the birth of eleven children, seven of whom are now 
living. The mother died July 11, 1885, and the father March 26, 1877. 
He professed religion when quite a young lad, and throughout life was 
an earnest and consistent Christian. He was ordained a minister of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and expounded the doctrines of that 
church as a local preacher [p.1028] until his death. Albert L., 
youngest son and child of Josiah and Sallie Trent, is a man of good 
education, excellent morals, splendid business qualifications, and is 
at present cashier of Washington County Bank. Josiah W. M. Trent was 
educated in the subscription schools of Washington County, and in 1862 
enlisted in Company A, Col. Brooks' Regiment, Confederate States Army, 
but was captured in 1863, and kept a prisoner at St. Louis until the 
close of the war. While in prison he lost the use of his legs, which 
he has never recovered, and after his return home he attended school 
and also engaged in teaching. He engaged in pedagoguing in 1870, and 
became a successful educator of the county. In 1878 he was elected 
county assessor, and has filled the duties of that office, to the 
entire satisfaction of all, for four successive terms. He is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. South, and the first church of that 
denomination in the county was organized in his father's house about 
the year 1831.