In 1858 a commission was appointed, by the states of Maine and New Hampshire, "to ascertain, survey, and mark" the boundary between them. The line had been established in 1784, and revised in 1825, when Ichabod Bartlett and John W. Weeks were the commissioners on the part of New Hampshire. The duty of representing this state upon the commission of 1858 was assigned to Col. Kent, and the work was performed during the autumn of that year, through the wilderness, from the Crown Monument, as far south as the towns of Fryeburg and Conway. Col. Kent's connection with this work is perpetuated in the mountain bearing his name, on the northeastern frontier, laid down on the state map of 1860, and in subsequent surveys. In 1864 he was one of the presidential electors of this state, and from 1866 to 1868 inclusive, he was one of the bank commissioners. At the outbreak of the rebellion Col. Kent volunteered in aid of the Union cause. He was ordered to Concord by Gov. Goodwin, commissioned assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of colonel, and assigned to duty in the recruiting service. Raising a company in a few days at Lancaster, he was ordered to Portsmouth, where he aided to organize and send out the Second Regiment and to fit the garrison at Fort Constitution. He continued on duty as assistant adjutant-general (the only one ever appointed in New Hampshire) until after the earlier regiments had left the state; but when a call was issued for three additional regiments from New Hampshire, in the fall of 1862, he was commissioned colonel of the Seventeenth, which was raised mainly by his personal efforts and upon the strength of his name, and organized and thoroughly drilled and disciplined under his command. Under the exigencies of the service, however, and by orders received from the secretary of war, the regiment was consolidated with the Second, whose ranks had become heavily depleted, the men being transferred and the officers necessarily mustered out, the governor in "general orders," regretting the necessity for this action and complimenting the Seventeenth for its high discipline and soldierly demeanor. As it was, few men, if any, in the state, did more than Col. Kent to promote the efficiency of the service, and to maintain the reputation of New Hampshire for prompt and patriotic effort in the Union cause,--a cause which he sustained by pen and voice and active personal effort throughout the entire struggle. He has been connected with the Grand Army of the Republic since its organization, is past commander of his Post, and is a frequent and popular speaker at the Veterans' reunions and on Memorial-day occasions. Col. Kent was an active member of the organization known as the "Governor's Horse-Guards," which was formed for parade on the occasion of the annual inauguration of the governor, in which he held the office of major in 1860, and rode as colonel in 1863, 1864, and 1865.