• 1795 - Russell: The name Frederick Trent appears twice on a petition, but it's possible that one person has been counted twice.
• 1795-1803 - Russell: one Frederick Trent is listed in the tax records every year, and there are no known Fredericks listed elsewhere until August 1803. The 1803 Russell tax list does not tell the precise date the list was made. Tazewell: in August, Frederick wins a case in court.
• 1804 - Tazewell: Frederick is on the tax list, and Lydia is a witness in a court case
• 1805 - Tazewell: John Trent is on the tax list but Frederick is not.
• 1806 - Logan: Frederick and Agnes are living in a new cabin in Logan circa 1806, according to anecdotal information in a book that was published ninety years later and has accuracy issues. Russell: Frederick is on the tax list. Tazewell: John Trent is on the tax list but Frederick is not.
• 1807 - Russell: Frederick is on the tax list. Tazewell: Frederick and Lydia sell land at the Cove. John Trent is on the tax list but Frederick is not.
• 1808 - Tazewell Frederick appears in court for additional proceedings related to the 1807 land sale.
• 1809 - Tazewell: Frederick is on the tax list.
• 1810 - Tazewell: Frederick is on the tax list and so is John Trent. Cabell/Logan: John Trent is on the tax list but Frederick is not. Have several family members been moving back and forth between Tazewell and Cabell/Logan, possibly occupying the same cabin in Cabell/Logan?
• 1811 - Tazewell: Frederick and John Trent are on the tax list. This is Frederick's last appearance on the Tazewell tax list.
• 1814-15 - Tazewell: Lydia is reported on the  tax list according to Zajac, apparently living near her brother-in-law John Trent. She is not actually on the records for 1814, but she's there in 1815 as Liddy "Tren".  Frederick's whereabouts are unknown, except that he signed a petition dated December 6, 1815 in Russell county. .
• 1816 - Tazewell: Lydia is on the tax list, apparently not living too close to brother-in-law John. Russell: Frederick doesn't appear on any tax lists, but in June he is ordered to do a road survey with Daniel Horton, John Vance and one other person.
• 1817-1818 - Russell: Frederick is on the tax list.
• 1820 - Tazewell: Frederick does not appear on the federal census for the county and neither does Lydia. Cabell: Frederick is on the tax list. His name is listed in the federal census, probably taken from the tax list. The census didn't record any people in his household, and his whereabouts are unknown. We can't tell whether this is the part of Cabell that later became Logan County.  Floyd County, KY:  a Lydia Trent is listed in the census with a very full household (nine children and young adults), but Frederick isn't there. It seems likely that this is Frederick's wife, although there are some unexplained details in the census report. See discussion in the Reference section. The enumeration date for the 1820 census is August 7,1820, so it looks like the family (except for Frederick) was in Kentucky on that date. Frederick's daughter Edy was married in Floyd County on June 9, 1820. The marriage bond (dated July 1, 1820) says that a document with Frederick's signature on it was submitted to the Floyd County Clerk, but it doesn't say that Frederick was physically present.
• 1821 - Cabell/Logan: Frederick is on the tax list. Tazewell: in April, the defendant in a debt case asks the court to take the deposition of Frederick Trent.  It is not known whether Frederick was actually found in the county. The plaintiff in the case was Daniel Horton, Frederick's probable brother-in-law.
• 1822 - Russell: Frederick and another white male over 16 (probably his son Humphrey) are on the tax list.
• 1823-1825 - Russell: no Trents on the tax list.
• 1824 - Tazewell: Frederick inherits property from his brother John and signs a document related to the estate in May. In November he makes a statement to a Tazewell justice of the peace in a legal dispute with Patrick Kendrick. Frederick was not found when the Sheriff was ordered to summon him in October.  Logan: no Trents on the tax list.
• 1825 - Pike/Floyd, Kentucky: Humphrey Trent gets married; it looks like some family members may have had a repeated or ongoing presence in Kentucky. Tazewell: continued legal activity versus the Kendrick family (Patrick's son James Kendrick has joined the fray). The parties came to court "by their attorneys" indicating that they may not have come in person.
• 1826 - Russell: Frederick and another white male over 16 (probably his son Eli) are on the tax list.  Frederick is bitten on the thumb by Abner Lester. Tazewell: continued legal activity versus the Kendrick family. There are multiple cases at this point with the parties suing each other. There were hearings in March, June and September. In March and June the parties came by their attorneys and may not have been present themselves. In September Patrick Kendrick (who was now deceased) came by his attorney. It doesn't say whether Frederick also came by his attorney, but the only recorded action on Frederick's behalf was performed by his counsel so Frederick may not have been there in person.
• 1827 - Russell: Frederick and another white male over 16 (probably Eli) are on the tax list.  Russell or Tazewell: Frederick signs a petition for residents of either county asking for more land to be attached to Logan county. He is not on the Tazewell tax list. Logan: no Trents on the tax list.
• 1828 - Russell: no Trents on the tax list. The Abner Lester thumb-biting case from 1826 goes to trial and Lester is acquitted. Perhpas the justices thought Frederick had it coming. People don't usually attack someone by biting someone on the thumb unless that someone had their hand in the person's face, making it an easy target.  The records don't say whether Frederick attended the trial. 
• 1829 - Russell: no Trents on the tax list
• 1830 - Russell: the only Trent on the tax list is Alexander (identity uncertain - see census discussion in the Reference section). Logan: Humphrey Trent is listed on the federal census for Logan county with a wife and three children.  Barren County Kentucky: a Lydia Trent is listed on the federal census with six children.  It seems most likely that this is NOT Frederick's wife; it's more likely to be the widow of James Harvey Trent.  See discussion in the Reference section.
• 1831 - Russell: no Trents on the tax list.
• 1832 - Russell: Frederick and Eli are on the tax list.
• 1833 - Logan: Eli and Humphrey are on the tax list.
• 1833-1839 - Russell: no Trents on the tax list.
• 1835 - Logan: Agnes, Eli, and Humphrey Trent are on the tax list. There is one male in Agnes' household (probably Frederick junior). There is no record of Agnes after this date. This is the only known record of Agnes that was created during her lifetime. Her only other known appearance in a government record is in the 1893 death record for daughter Sarah Trent Riffe saying that Sarah's parents were T and A Trent. The 'T' might be an unfinished 'F' for Frederick (WVculture).
• 1837 - Logan: Humphrey, Eli, and Frederick Trent are on the tax list. This is probably Frederick junior, who turned 21 in 1836.
• 1843 - Logan: Humphrey, Eli, and Frederick Trent (probably junior) are on the tax list.
• 1830-1846 and beyond - Logan: Humphrey Trent is listed as a landowner in the real estate tax records. His brother Eli joins the list in 1836, and Frederick Junior in 1852. Looks like the family's wandering days were over.

Another possibility is that Lydia was Frederick's first wife, and based on the timeline she was probably the mother of the children that have been attributed to Agnes (see Reference section). If Lydia and Agnes are not the same person, then Frederick and Agnes may have married after Lydia died.  They did not necessarily have any children together, but later generations may have mistakenly thought that Agnes was their biological grandmother. Such mistakes are not unusual. The Ragland book published in 1896 is our only source of information about the name of the children's mother, and it is apparently based on anecdotes from later generations which may not be accurate. If Frederick was really living in Logan circa 1806, it might have been Lydia who was with him at the time not Agnes, and her name was misreported ninety years later.

The 1835 Logan tax list is proof that a person called Agnes Trent really did exist, just as the earlier Tazewell records prove that someone called Lydia Trent really existed.  But it doesn't prove that they were two different people, or that they were married to two different Frederick Trents. The evidence indicates strongly that there was just one Frederick.  It doesn't seem too likely that Lydia and Agnes were the same person, but it can't be ruled out.

The death record for Frederick's daughter Sarah Trent Riffe says that her parents were T and A Trent, which points to a belief that her mother's name was Agnes; the "T" may have started out as an F that was never completed. Sarah died of old age in 1893, roughly 60 years after Agnes' first and last appearance in a public document.  This is about the same time that the Ragland book was published, reporting that Agnes was the mother of the five children.  By the 1890s, Frederick's descendants clearly believed that Agnes was the mother of the children; but this might be wrong.

Triangulated autosomal DNA matches between the descendants of Humphrey Trent and descendants of John Horton II, William Horton, and members of the Kendrick family indicate that Humphrey had Horton/Kendrick ancestry.  But this doesn't prove who his mother was; Lydia could have been a Horton, whether or not she was the same person as Agnes. Based on the estimated birthdates of all the children (not just the five attributed to Agnes), it's likely that Frederick and Lydia married around 1799-1800, when Frederick was living in Russell County. If Agnes is not the same person as Lydia and really is the mother of the children attributed to her, then Frederick and Agnes were presumably married by 1806 when son Humphrey was born. This is also the year that Ragland reported them in Logan county, saying that Frederick was from Russell County and Agnes was from Tazewell (which was part of Russell until the end of 1799). Russell County is obviously a good place to look for family members of Lydia and/or Agnes.

There is no one named Hawke or Leeds on the Russell County tax lists from 1795 (the year that Frederick first appears on the records) to 1801 (the year by which he and Lydia were presumably married). If that was Lydia's maiden name, her male relatives can't be identified in Russell County during the relevant time period.

But there are two Horton/Kendrick heads of household on the Russell tax list (Familysearch) in the relevant time period. John Horton II is on the tax list almost every year from 1788-1806, and he had landholdings on Indian Creek, midway between Frederick's land at the Cove and John Trent's land at Kents Ridge (see Landholdings article). But the 1818 deeds disposing of these lands list his heirs, and there's no room for Frederick's wife to be one of them (Library of Virginia). There are records indicating that Lydia ordered a survey for 20 acres on Indian Creek, but the details are vague (Genealogy.com).

John's brother William Horton apparently never lived in Russell County. William's wife Mary Kendrick Horton was the sister of John Horton's wife Isabella, and both women were sisters of Patrick Kendrick, who unsuccessfully sued Frederick Trent in 1824. After William Horton died in 1797, his widow and children moved to Russell County, and Mary Horton appears on the Russell tax lists during the 1798-1811 time period in years when she had a reportable underage male in the household. From 1812 onwards, she no longer had minor sons in her household. The children of William and Mary Horton are not very well documented, especially the daughters. There's room in this family for an undocumented daughter who married Frederick Trent. John and William Horton had other brothers who are also poorly documented, but these brothers don't appear on the Russell tax list during the relevant time period. It seems most likely that William and Mary Horton are the parents of Frederick's childbearing wife.

The sons of William and Mary Horton include Daniel and Lewis Horton, who achieved lasting notoriety when Lewis was murdered by Abner Vance in 1817.  A romantic legend has sprung up that Vance killed Lewis in a fit of rage because Lewis dishonored Vance's daughter.  But the surviving records tell a different story. They report that Vance was waiting at a river crossing to kill Daniel Horton, apparently because Vance was angry about a legal dispute. But Vance killed Lewis Horton instead because Lewis came to the river crossing and Daniel didn't (Abner Vance article).

Chilhowie is currently in Smyth County, Virginia, which was formed from Washington and Wythe counties in 1832. The exact location of Sallie's birth can't be determined, but the general area is adjacent to Russell and Tazewell counties.  We have no record of Frederick in Washington or Wythe county, but it's certainly an area that he could have visited. He was recorded on the Tazewell tax lists for 1809-1811, so any stay in Washington/Wythe must have been temporary.

The bible entry is written in the past tense, indicating that it was made sometime after the 1893 death of Sarah/Sallie Trent Riffe. It looks like her parents' first names had already been forgotten, but their last names were still remembered. Two of her siblings were still known, as well as a family connection to John Skaggs. The member story notes that the entry made an error about Peter Cline; the Peter Cline who married Edy Trent was probably the grandson of the Peter Cline from Holland. "Old Fred Trent" is apparently Sarah's brother Frederick Junior.

Based on this bible entry, the member story concludes that Agnes Horton must have been the sister of Cynthia Horton (wife of John Skaggs). I disagree with this conclusion because it's unlikely that Sarah was the literal niece of John Skaggs. "Uncle" is often used as a courtesy title for an older relative, and the actual relationship might be something else. Agnes and Cynthia could be sisters if Agnes was Frederick's younger second wife and not the mother of his children. But the timeline doesn't work for them to be sisters if Agnes was the children's biological mother. The member story says "Records also show that Cynthia Horton's father was John Horton."  I haven't found any documentation for her parents, but she is usually claimed to be the daughter of John Horton III and Jane Sargent. John III and Jane Sargent are too young to be the grandparents of Humphrey Trent (he's the oldest of the children attributed to Frederick and Agnes, and was born in 1806). John Horton III was born circa 1777, Jane Sargent was born circa 1782, they married around 1800, and Cynthia Horton was born in 1804.  John III and Jane are plausible parents for Cynthia, but not for the mother of Frederick's children.

The US census for 1850, 1860 and 1870 shows a John Skaggs with a wife named Cynthia, but they don't show her maiden name and neither does her tombstone. I can't find any record that she was a Horton, although I have no reason to doubt that this is the couple that the bible entry was referring to. This John Skaggs is unlikely to have been an Indian fighter and scout.  He is documented as living his entire life (1795-1876) in Virginia, which didn't provide that sort of employment during this time period.

 

These are the Trents who appear on the tax records, all from the upper district of Russell county. It's likely that they are brothers, the sons of William Trent and Sarah Bryant, but we can't be certain of this. The William Trent who appears on the tax list might be the father.

• 1787 - no Trents. There is evidence that several members of the family lived in Henry/Franklin county until about 1786.
• 1788 - John and William
• 1789 - John, Alexander and William
• 1790 - William
• 1791-1794 - John and William (1791, 1792, 1793, 1794)
• 1795 - Frederick, John and William. This is Frederick's first appearance in the record books. This is also the year that Frederick's name appears twice on a petition.
• 1796 - Frederick, John and William
• 1797 - Frederick, John, William and Alexander
• 1798-1799 - Frederick and John (1798, 1799)
• 1800 - record for upper Russell county is missing.
• 1801-1803 - Frederick  (1801, 1802, 1803)
• 1804-1805 - no Trents
• 1806-1807 - Frederick (1806, 1807)
• 1808 - no tax taken
• 1809-1816 - no Trents
• 1817-1818 - Frederick (1817, 1818)
• 1819-1821 - no Trents  
• 1822 - Frederick (2 white males over 16; Humphrey was 16 this year)
• 1823-1825 - no Trents
• 1826-1827 - Frederick (2 white males over 16; probably Eli, who turned 16 in 1825. Humphrey got married in Kentucky in 1825) (1826, 1827)
• 1828-1829 - no Trents
• 1830 - Alexander Trent. It's not clear who this is.
• 1831 - no Trents
• 1832 - Frederick Trent and Eli Trent (separate households, 1 white male in each)
• 1833-1839 - incomplete records. No Trents on the available records.

• 1795 Petition signed twice by Frederick Trent (Library of Virginia)
• 1797 Law Order Book 2 Frederick Trent Plaintiff against Samuel Smith Defendant on a petition and summons. Judgment is granted plaintiff for £2.15.7 and costs. Ordered that Frederick Trent pay William Trent and Charity Vandike 2 dollars and 65 cents each for 5 days attendance each as witnesses for him vs Samuel Smith (FamilySearch)
• 1799 Law Order Book 2 Ordered that John Deskins Junior pay John Vandike and Frederick Trent 53 cents each for one days attendance each as witnesses for him at the suit of Abednego White. (FamilySearch) 
• 1799 Law Order Book 3 Stephen Deskins and Frederick Trent [reported] for fighting by the information of George Kendricks & Smith Deskins farmers two of our own body. And having nothing further to present were discharged. (FamilySearch)
• 1799 Law Order Book 3 An Indenture of bargain and sale of land from Alice Mann to Frederick Trent was produced in court yesterday and proven by the oaths of John Vandike and Harry Smith two of the witnesses thereto and continued for further proof. (FamilySearch)
• 1799 Law Order Book 3 Frederick is a juror in the case of Estate of William Roman vs Smith Deskins (FamilySearch)
• 1800 Law Order Book 3 Commonwealth vs Stephen Deskins & Frederick Trent continued [this is a postponement of the Sep 1799 fighting case]. (FamilySearch)
• 1800 Law Order Book 3 Commonwealth vs Frederick Trent Defendant for a breach of the peace. This day came the attorney for the Commonwealth and thereupon came also a Jury to wit Peter McIntosh, Toliver Wright, Simon Stacy, Richard Davis, John Riley, James Crank, James Abbot, Joseph McFarlane, Joseph Davis, Richard Daniel, William Cooper & Robert Tate who being elected and sworn well and truly to assess the fine on the part of the Commonwelath in this suit upon their oaths do assess the fined to ten cents besides the costs. Therefore it is considered by the Court that the attorney for the Court recover against the Defendant the fine or damages aforesaid in form aforesaid assessed & the costs in this prosecution expended [there is a similar case against Stephen Deskins on the same page, with the same outcome] (FamilySearch)
• 1800 Law Order Book 3 Ordered that George Kendrick be allowed one dollar and fifty-nine cents for three days attendance as a witness for the Commonwealth vs Stephen Deskins & Frederick Trent. (FamilySearch)
• 1802 Law Order Book 3 Ordered that David Fannin, Jacob Francisco, John Brown and Frederick Trent or any three of them being first sworn for that purposes do view the ground proposed for a road from James Browns to the Kentucky road and report of the conveniences and inconveniences of the said proposed road to next court. (FamilySearch)
• 1802 Law Order Book 3 Jacob Francisco, John Brown & Frederick Trent being appointed by a former Order to view a road from James Browns to the Kentucky Road this day returned their report the consideration of which is continued till the next Court. (FamilySearch)
• 1815 Petition for Russell County citizens signed by Frederick Trent  (FamilySearch). Signatures that interest me include Daniel Horton and the top of page 1; John Horton and Abner Vance near the bottom of the last column on page 1; and Patrick Kendrick and Frederick Trent near the top of page 2, followed by several more Vances.
• 1816 Frederick is ordered to do a road survey with Daniel Horton, John Vance and one other person.  The survey is to cover the area from the state line on the Levicy Fork of Sandy to the ford of Clinch River at Burgess Brammers, intersecting the road leading from Tazewell to New Garden.  This may provide a clue about where Frederick was thought to be living, but I can't identify the area.
• 1827 Petition for residents of Russell and Tazewell signed by Frederick Trent (Library of Virginia). He probably signed in Russell County since he was on the Russell County tax list this year.
• 1828 the outcome of the Abner Lester thumb-biting case (FamilySearch)

According to Zajac, these are the records of Frederick/Lydia in Tazewell county:

• 1807 - Frederick and Lydia sell land on the Clinch River in Tazewell
• 1824 - Frederick inherits property from his brother John in Tazewell

• 1801 - no Trents.
• 1802 - April 30 John Trent only (link)
• 1803 - May 31 John Trent only (link)
• 1804 - March 15 Frederick Trent; June 8 John Trent (link)
• 1805-07 - John Trent only (1805, 1806, 1807)
• 1808 - no tax taken
• 1809-1811 - John Trent and Frederick Trent, in March/April of each year (1809, 1810, 1811)
• 1812 - John Trent only (link)
• 1813-14 - no Trents according to the tax list, in spite of Zajac's report that Lydia was listed in 1814 (1813, 1814)
• 1815 - Liddy "Tren" and John Trent, listed consecutively; Zajac was right about this year. Lydia's household has one male over the age of 16 and one horse. It's not clear who the male could be.  Frederick's whereabouts are unknown. (link)
• 1816 - Lydia Trent on one page and John Trent on the next page. They may not be living close together. Lydia's household has one male over the age of 16 and no horses. Frederick's whereabouts are unknown.
• 1817 - John Trent only (link)
• 1818 - John Trent and William Trent. It is not clear who William Trent is (link)
• 1819 - John Trent only (link)
• 1820 - no Trents
• 1821 - Polly Trent and John Trent. It is not clear who Polly Trent is. (link)
• 1822 - William Trent, Polly Trent, and John Trent (link; John is on the next page)
• 1823 - Polly Trent and John Trent (link)
• 1824 - Polly Trent only. John Trent has died. (link)
• 1825-35 - no Trents

• 1803 (August) Court Order Book 1800-1810 Frederick wins a debt case against Jas. Pemberton (FamilySearch).
• 1804 Court Order Book 1 Isaac Johnson vs James S. Lemmon petition & summons, The debt being called came not judgment is therefore granted to the plaintiff vs the defendants for the sum of four pounds with Int thereon from Dec 1804 till paid and costs.  Same vs Same John Trent and Lydia Trent proved each three days attendance as witnesses for the plaintiff. (FamilySearch).
• 1805 Court Order Book 1 Ordered that Isaac Johnson pay Lydia Trent $3.60 cents for her attendance three courts a witness for him against James S. Lemmon and traveling 45 miles coming and the same returning. (FamilySearch)
• 1807 Deed Book 1 Frederick and Lydia sell their land to Tryon Gibson (FamilySearch).
• 1808 Frederick provides additional information on the land sale in the 1800-1810 Court Order book (FamilySearch)
• 1820 Lydia Trent orders a survey of 20 acres on Indian Creek. See the Trent Documents article.
• 1821 in April, the defendant in a debt case asks the court to take Frederick's deposition. It is not known whether Frederick actually appeared or was present in the county at all(FamilySearch)
• 1824 In May, Frederick signs a document related to the estate of his brother John (FamilySearch)
• 1824 Patrick Kendrick vs. Frederick Trent lawsuit. Initiated sometime between 1821 and 1824. Includes a personal appearance by Frederick Trent before a Tazewell County justice of the peace in November 1824. The legal battles multiplied and continued until 1826. See the Trent Documents article.

There are fewer records for Frederick/Agnes than there are for Frederick/Lydia.  A major source of information is Ragland's "History of Logan County", which states:

Passing up Gilbert Creek, we find, about the year 1806, domiciled in a brand new cabin at the first fork above the mouth, Frederick Trent, of Russell County, Va. He married Agnes Horton of Tazewell County. He had three sons and two daughters. His sons were Humphrey, who married Martha Smith; Eli, who married Mahala Elkins, and Frederick, who married a daughter of Wm Cline. The daughters were Susan, who married Andrew Hatfield, and Sarah, who married Wm. Riffe."

Notice that the book says Frederick was from Russell county, which shows only one Frederick Trent on the tax list from 1795-1803. It says that Agnes was from Tazewell - a place where Lydia appears in the record books several times but Agnes can't be found.

The 1820 Frederick census. Click for a larger view

Cabell county was created from Kanawha county in 1809. Logan county was created in 1824 from parts of Giles, Tazewell, Cabell, and Kanawha counties (Wikipedia).  Part of it became Mingo county in 1895. This varied past, plus the general shortage of documents, makes it difficult to find records. But Frederick does appear on the 1820 census for Cabell county (later Logan), and this is his only known appearance on a federal census.  But the only thing in this listing is his name.  No people were counted in his household. The names on the census are more or less in alphabetical order, suggesting that somebody made a list of the expected households (probably copied from property tax records; Frederick was on the Cabell tax list in 1820) and then went out to collect data from them.  But it looks like nobody was living at Frederick's place.

Microfilm records at FamilySearch show the following on the Cabell county tax lists:

• 1809 - no Trents
• 1810-11 - John Trent only (1810, 1811)
• 1812-19 - no Trents
• 1820-21 - Frederick Trent, with two horses in 1820 and three in 1821. Horsepower is useful for a traveling man (1820, 1821)
• 1822-41 - no Trents. From 1824 onwards, this list shows the portion of Cabell that did NOT become part of Logan county. Before 1824, we can't be sure which part of Cabell it is.  

The Cabell County deed records show no Trents in the relevant time period.

The Kanawha County tax lists show no Trents from 1806-1809. Cabell was created out of Kanawha in 1809. The records for 1803-1805 are missing, which is unfortunate since Frederick may have been in Kanawha in 1805.

WVGenWeb (now on Archive.org; the original website seems to be offline) has transcribed lists for a few years of Logan County personal tax lists; these are the records that survived the Civil War, and the other years perished. The originals are not available online. Here's the number of Trents that are reported in the available years:

• 1824 - zero
• 1827 - zero
• 1833 - two, sort of (Eli and Humphrey, both sons of Frederick. Humphrey has a line through part of the name and figures)
• 1835 - three (Agnes, Eli, and Humphrey)
• 1837 - three (Humphrey, Eli, and Frederick. This is probably Frederick junior, another son)
• 1843 - three (Humphrey, Eli, and Frederick)

Microfilms of the Logan County land books for 1824-1902 are available online at FamilySearch. This is a real estate tax list that shows the property owners. There is no index or search function; manual scrolling is required. They show the following through 1846:

• 1824-1829: no Trents
  
  
• 1830-35: Humphrey Trent: 37 acres on Sandy River (1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835).
  
  
• 1836: Humphrey Trent: 37 acres on Sandy River, 50 acres on Alum Creek, 15 acres on Bens Creek; Ali [Eli] Trent: 40 acres on Bens Creek (1836)
  
  
• 1837-38: Humphrey Trent: 50 acres on Alum Creek, 15 acres on Bens Creek; Eli Trent: 40 acres on Bens Creek (1837, 1838)
  
  
• 1839-46: Humphrey Trent: 12 acres on Alum Creek, 15 acres on Bens Creek; Eli Trent: 40 acres on Bens Creek (1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1846)
  
  

Side note: Although the Ragland book says that Frederick was the father of the five children, it does not say that Agnes was their mother! But this is just the book's style, which typically gave all the credit for children to the father alone. So we can't read anything into this.

The 1820 Census.

The 1820 Lydia census. Click for a larger view

At the time the 1820 census was taken, Floyd County, Kentucky was bigger than it was today, and included the area that became Pike county in 1821. The Pike portion of Floyd county shared a boundary with the area that became Logan county (and later Mingo county), so the residents of Floyd could live very close to Logan county even though they were technically in different states.

On the 1820 census, there is a woman named Lydia Trent living in Floyd county with nine children and young adults. She is listed as the head of household, and there is no male in the house old enough to be her husband.  There are no other Trents on the page, but Valentine Hatfield is there and so is his brother Joseph. Their presence provides indirect evidence that this is Frederick's wife, as explained in the section on the Hatfield connection.

The census shows a total of ten people in the household:

• 1 female over 45 - this must be Lydia. We don't know where Frederick was.
   
• 1 male 18-26 - Who is this? He would have been born between 1794-1802. There is also an unidentified male age 16-21 in Lydia's household on the 1815-1816 Tazewell county tax lists, who would have been born around 1794-1799. If there is a missing son, then the William Trent who appeared on the Tazewell tax list in 1818 and 1822 might be a candidate. So is the Alexander Trent who briefly appeared in Russell county in 1830. It's possible that some other young-adult male might have stayed with Lydia to help the family when Frederick was away. Or it might be Lydia's son-in-law.  Two of the presumed daughters got married shortly before the census was taken on August 7.
   
• 3 females 16-26 - Chloe was 20, Linea was 18 or 19, and Edy was 17. Edy got married in Floyd county in July 1820 and Chloe got married in Tazewell in May 1820. Linea reportedly got married in Tazewell in 1822 (Zajac). The timeline shows that Frederick and a Trent male over the age of 16 were in Russell county in 1822, so the family was apparently back in Virginia by the time Chloe got married.
   
• 1 male 10-16 - Humphrey was 14.
   
• 2 males under 10 - Eli was 11 and should have been in the same category as Humphrey.  But age mistakes are common on the census, so he might have been counted here. Frederick Junior was 5.
   
• 2 females under 10 - Susan and Sarah were about 10 years old.

Overall, this is a good fit with the known children of Frederick Trent. If this is the correct family, and if Lydia and Agnes are two different people, then we can conclude that the mother of the children was Lydia, not Agnes. Assuming that Frederick did not have large families in two different places, of course.

James Harvey Trent and Lydia Young(?) married around 1795. She seems more likely to be over 50 in 1830, but 49 is not impossible.  On the 1830 census, the male 15-19 could be their son John (born 1812); the male 10-14 could be Jackson (born 1818); the female 10-14 could be Nancy (born 1815); and the 2 females 5-9 could be Charity (born 1819) and Lynie (born 1823).

The Trents of Logan county had marriage ties to the Hatfields (whose famous feud with the McCoys was still several decades in the future at this point). An understanding of this connection will help explain why the presence of two Hatfields on the 1820 census for Floyd County, Kentucky provides evidence that the Lydia Trent on the same page was Frederick Trent's wife.

In 1825, Frederick's son Humphrey Trent married Martha Smith in Pike/Floyd county. Martha was the daughter of Thomas Smith, and Thomas was a half-brother of Valentine Hatfield (they had the same mother). The question is, how did Humphrey and Martha meet? Thomas Smith was in Logan county in 1824 according to the Logan county tax lists, and the Ragland book says that he settled in Logan "some time before Frederick Trent" allegedly arrived in 1806. The Trents may have had a sporadic presence in Logan county, but they didn't start appearing as continuous residents until Humphrey became a landowner there in 1830.  The timeline suggests that they traveled around a lot in the interim.

In addition, Frederick's daughter Susan had married Valentine Hatfield's son Andrew by 1833; their first child was reportedly born in February 1834. Several Hatfields made their first appearance on the Logan tax list in 1833, including Ephraim Hatfield (Valentine's father and Thomas Smith's stepfather).  But Valentine Hatfield is first seen on the tax list for 1835, and Andrew doesn't appear until 1837. The Logan County deed records show that the family started buying land there in 1838.  How did Susan and Andrew meet?

The presence of both Valentine Hatfield and Lydia Trent on the same page of the 1820 Floyd census suggests that they didn't live too far apart, so these families could have known each other for a long time before they started appearing on the Logan tax list in the 1830s.  We naturally expect Andrew Hatfield to be living in his father's household at least until he comes of age; there were a lot of children in Lydia's household on the 1820 census, apparently including Humphrey and Susan; and there may have been visits between the Smiths and the Hatfields in Floyd and/or Logan, with possible opportunities for the Trents to meet them as they traveled through the area.

Thomas Smith is on the 1824 Logan tax list, then is absent from the list in 1827, and reappears in 1833; we don't know where he and his family were in the interim, and the records are sporadic so we don't know how long they were away. Humphrey Trent and Martha Smith got married on June 15, 1825 in Pike/Floyd county (there's a record proving it), so we know that they went to that county at least once. Marriage records for Susan Trent and Andrew Hatfield have not been located, so we don't know exactly when or where they got married. 

The Hatfields were still in Kentucky on the 1830 census, in the part of Floyd county that had been renamed Pike county in 1821.  There are no Trents on the same census page. Valentine Hatfield is on the Pike County tax list from 1823 to 1834.  Andrew Hatfield is on the Pike tax list for 1831 (when he turned 21) and 1833 (there is no list for 1832), then disappears from Pike County. He appears in Logan county in 1837.

The relationship between the Hatfields and the Trents apparently continued after they all moved to Logan county in the 1830s. The 1840 census shows Valentine Hatfield, Thomas Smith, and Humphrey Trent consecutively - one right after another - so it looks like they were near neighbors. Land records suggest that this was near the Browning Fork of Horsepen Creek.  Humphrey Trent and Valentine Hatfield are listed on the same page of the 1850 census, along with two other Hatfield households and two Smith households (but not Thomas Smith, who may have died by this time). In 1860, Humphrey is listed on the same page as three Hatfield households, but Valentine isn't one of them even though he was still alive. That was Humphrey's last census - he died in 1866, reportedly after being bitten by a rabid squirrel.

Kentucky records. There are signs of a sporadic family presence in the part of Floyd County, Kentucky that became Pike County in 1821. But we haven't found any record of Frederick himself in Kentucky.  The Kentucky property tax list included both land and personal property, and simply owning a horse was enough to put an adult male on the tax list (Kentucky Secretary of State). The available Pike County tax lists for 1823-1836 do not show any Trents. The Floyd County tax lists for the relevant years are missing.

The Annals of Floyd County, Kentucky, page 254 has the July 1, 1820 marriage bond for the marriage of Edy Trent. It says: "My son Peter Cline wishes to obtain licence to marry Edy Trent, a daughter of Frederick Trent who has hereto requested and signed his name for you to issue the same. We both have mutually agreed for them to marry and do hereby request you to issue the license. 16, June 1820". FamilySearch has a statement from the deputy clerk saying "I... do hereby certify that Peter Cline produced the necessary certificate from his father and Frederick Trent the father of the said Edy Trent authorising me to issue them license". It sounds like Frederick wrote out his permission and gave it to Cline to submit to the clerk, but Frederick may not have been physically present when the document was submitted.

Virginia county name changes.  MAPofUS has an excellent interactive map of Virginia that lets you click through the years to see how the county lines changed.  You can also watch a time-lapse animation, but it moves too fast to be useful.  Other state maps are also available.