The story of Stafford’s first first permanent English settlers, the Brents. begins at Lark Stoke, their ancestral home in England. In 1638, Giles Brent (I), along with sisters Mary and Margaret, sailed on the “Elizabeth” to the new world and settled on Kent Island in southern Maryland. Giles Brent (I) became a prominent Maryland gentleman and governor of Kent Island.

Father John White, a Catholic Jesuit missionary in Maryland, provided instruction and baptism to a Piscataway Indian emperor (chief or tayac) and his wife. The chief desired his daughter, Kittamaqund, be educated and converted. He placed the seven-year-old in White’s care. The “Indian princess” was adopted by Mistress Margaret Brent, Giles’ sister. By 1642, Kittamaqund learned English and was baptized as “Mary.”

Later, Giles (I) met and married Kittamaqund (Mary Brent). When Kittamaqund’s father died, Giles (I) claimed the land of his father-in-law. When he did not get what he requested, he and Mary (Kittamaqund) sailed directly across the Potomac River and landed in what is now known as Brent’s Point in the Wide Water area of Stafford County. They moved to Virginia to establish a permanent settlement on the Potomac River and Aquia Creek. Mary’s (Kittamaqund’s) ability to speak the Algonquin and English languages greatly assisted in establishing and maintaining friendly relations between the Brents and Patawomecks.