Edward Kent Jr. (August 8, 1862 – July 30, 1916) was an American jurist and the final Chief Justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court. He began his legal career in New York City and worked there for several years before health concerns caused him to move to Denver, Colorado. After serving briefly as an Assistant United States Attorney, Kent was appointed to the Arizona Territorial bench. His most influential decision came in 1910 when he determined the water rights for roughly 5,000 land owners in the Salt River Valley.
After his admission to the New York bar in 1887, Kent began practicing law in New York City.[2] In 1893, Kent became an associate at the prestigious legal firm of Butler, Stillman & Hubbard.[1] On September 14 the same year he married Edith Chadwick of Baltimore, Maryland.[3] Kent's bride suffered a physical and mental breakdown before the end of the year and needed to be institutionalized for the rest of her life.[1]
At the time of Kent's appointment to the Arizona bench, President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to appoint someone residing in the territory. Competing groups within the territorial Republican Party were unable to settle upon an in-territory candidate acceptable to all parties.[5] Forced to look outside the territory, President Roosevelt nominated Kent to become Chief Justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court on January 29, 1902, with senate confirmation occurring on March 3.[6] He took his oath of office on March 21, 1902.[7] During his time on the bench, Kent was assigned to judicial district three. At the time of his appointment the third district consisted of Maricopa and Yuma counties. In 1903, Yuma County was exchanged for Pinal County with Pinal being exchanged for Gila County two years later.[6] Upon his arrival in Arizona Territory, Kent settled in Phoenix.[6] Judge Kent was reappointed to additional four-year terms on February 26, 1906, by Roosevelt, and January 20, 1910, by William Howard Taft.[5] His reappointments were confirmed by the senate on March 6, 1906 and January 25, 1910.[8][9]
During his ten years on the bench, Kent authored around 70 decisions.[6] His legal writings were coherent and straightforward, being of average size for the time.[6] Kent's most important decision came during Hurley v. Abbott, Arizona Territorial Court, No. 4564 (March 1, 1910).[10] The ruling, commonly known as the "Kent Decree", determined when various tracts of land were first irrigated, beginning in 1869 and working through 1909, and assigned relative water rights accordingly.[1] The result was the settling of water rights and relative priorities for roughly 5,000 land owners in the Salt River valley.[10]
In other rulings, Kent dealt with an attractive nuisance concern in Sallady v. Old Dominion Copper Mining Company, 12 Arizona 124 (1909) where a small girl had drowned in a water plume at one of the company's mines.[11]Hughes v. Territory of Arizona, 11 Arizona 184 (1906) examined a criminal contempt charge that had been brought against former-Governor L. C. Hughes due to some of his newspaper publications.[6]Thomas v. Territory of Arizona, 11 Arizona 184 (1907) meanwhile examined fraud charges brought against a man who had operated the Yavapai County hospital and poor farm.[6] On a smaller scale, Nogales Water Company v. Neuman, 12 Arizona 306 (1909) dealt with whether a building containing both a photography store and a grocer should have one water meter or two.[11]
As the final steps in Arizona statehood approached, Kent received the Republican nomination for a seat on the Arizona Supreme Court but was defeated by the Democratic challenger during the general election[12] The judge the left the bench when Arizona achieved statehood on February 14, 1912.[13]
After leaving the bench, Kent went into private legal practice with Louis H. Chalmers. He was also active in civic affairs, becoming a director of the Phoenix County Club, member of the St. Luke's Hospital board of trustees, and vestryman at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. In July 1916, Kent was traveling with his mother.[12] While on the trip, Kent died of pneumonia on July 30, 1916, in Chicago, Illinois.[4] He was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[12]
Goff, John S. (July 1968). "The Appointment, Tenure and Removal of Territorial Judges: Arizona – A Case Study". The American Journal of Legal History. 12 (3). Temple University: 211–231. doi:10.2307/844126. JSTOR844126.
—— (1975). Arizona Territorial Officials Volume I: The Supreme Court Justices 1863–1912. Cave Creek, Arizona: Black Mountain Press. OCLC1622668.
