McHenry County's USCT Connection-- Part 2: Sgt. John R. Brent

John Brent was born in Kentucky in 1841 as a slave and joined the 115th USCT where he rose through the ranks to sergeant. The regiment did garrison duty at Lexington, Kentucky, at first and later was transferred to Virginia where it participated in the Siege of Petersburg.

In 1882, he came to McHenry, Illinois, and worked in a brickyard. He lived in McHenry for the next 40 years. Census records list him as a mulatto. In 1901, he was a janitor at the McHenry Public Schools. He died January 20, 1922 and is buried at Woodland Cemetery.

--Old Secesh