The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-07-28
The Dent Family at twashing.on.

j The Dent Family at Washington.
y sSigma," the correspondent of the
4 Cincinnati Con1nercial, in recent letter
gives the following account of Mrs.
Grants relatives who have been brought
into notice by the recent Presidential
election:
In the argot of the ''ring" and sssport''
there are many expressive phrases. TIE
light" or "feather weights" are among
them. They are picturesque terms, il,
n lustrating their meaning by their sound,
: even. We are threatened with family
OF this nature. Families in Democratic
influences are always obstacles Now, in
] that of the one referred to, it is the num-
ber of its members that make it formida-
bic. It is certainly better to be born
lucky than rich. The old proverb is
+ forcibly illustrated in the case of the
family of the estimable lady who now pre-
sides at the White House. A New Eng
land Senator is credited with the honor
embodied in q reference to General Dent,
"as only q dent" and therefore not to be
noticed. But, with all their family con-
nections, there are 80 many Dents, that
it is not altogether improper to consider
them as sui generis. They are not un-
like the Blairs in one respect-that of
attaching themselves to the public crib
but they are very different in the in
tellectual measure, by which either must
be considered.
Visitors to the White House will no.
tice, seated daily in the large ante cham
ber into which callers go, q portly, we'll
preserved, hale old man, whose white
head and ruddy face tells of good living
and horid health. He always occupies
an armchair, close to the North-ea win
dow, which is next to the desk occupied
by the "card-bearer in ordinary. z"
Around the old gentleman are always to
be seen number Of listeners, paying re-
spectful attention to his garrulous but
not senile gossip. The fact that he is
the father-in-law of the President ac-
counts for most of the attention bestow-
ed upon him. "Colonel," as the old gem
tleman is called, is q ell-preserved spe-
cimen of the hearty, yet chivalrio, plan
ter of half Q century's experience. He
was stakeholder during that period, and
judging by the little stories in circula
tion, had all the good natured contempt
for the tanner family whose son married
into his own. I doubt not it was deem
ed, in paternal circles, great lowering
of the family dignity to allow jesse
Grants son, army officer though he was
10 marry tnelr daughter.
The males of the family I have seen
do not appear to take after the father.
Mrs. Grant and Mrs. Sharpe resemble
him most closely. He has O large frame.
and large head klso. The two best known
Dents here are thin and spare in frame,
with small heads, narrow, long and
sharp faces. Lieutenant Dent-General
Py brevet and courtesy-is O man of
III &c. q
all mortals, in manner and appearance.
Emphatically ''airy" in style, his brain
appears to be as gossamer as his manner.
have seen him walking the street. or
strutting in the ante-chamber, when one
could read in all his actions as the sum
total of his thoughts: ''Look at me! Ad-
mire mel I am the great Dent. You
can only reach the President through
me. am eyes and ears for his Excel
!ency, and, in fact am hep T was going
to say that the General" was arrogant
to most, but sycnphantic to some. It
must be said to his credit, however, that
after all his arrogance, he is no respector
of persons, as witness the dislike of
many Senators to him. General Dent ia
about five feet ten, spare frame, small
head and sharp features, weather-beaten
in hue, and q general expression of some
day drying up and blowing away.
Judge Louis Dent is man of more
pleasing appearance, as he has need to
be to impress the people of Mississippi,
as their future Governor should. He is
lawyer, man with some humor, with
considerable mental activity, though I
doubt the originality or breadth. He is
small man in stature, less in height
than Grant, of slender, well-knit frame,
quick and vivacious in speech and fea-
ture.
Judge Dent is the best specimen of
the family I have seen. He was for
merly planter and Shareholder in Mis-
sissippi, and being Union man, left
during the rebellion. He is undoubtedly
moderate Republican, but ambitious
enough to allow himself to be used by
those who ore not. His first idea was to
secure the enatorship, but that seems
to have been parceled ont in advance