Catherine Walker Johnson, born about 1786, was the daughter of Thomas Johnson Jr and Catharine Rhoda Dimmick. Some sources say that he was the son of the first governor of Maryland, Thomas Johnson, but he was his nephew. His father, Benjamin Johnson, was Governor Thomas Johnson's brother; both were sons of Thomas Johnson II and Dorcas Sedwick.

Catherine was the first wife of Col. William Brent, clerk of the courts in Washington D.C. Catherine and William were married in Washington D.C. on 6 January 1805 and had six children - five boys and one girl - before Catherine died in July 1822. She was said to have been buried first at Brentwood, the home of Robert Brent, her husband William Brent's brother and the first mayor of Washington D.C. Brentwood Manor stood near Florida Avenue N.E. and 6th Street N.E., near present day Gallaudet University. Vandalism at the property, about 1915, resulted in Catherine's remains, as well as those of Robert Brent and his daughter, Eleanor Brent Pearson, and possibly others, being reinterred at St. John the Evangelist Cemetery in Forest Glen Maryland where many Brents and Carrolls are buried, including Catherine's husband, William Brent. St. John the Evangelist Cemetery is also known as the Carroll Cemetery. After Catherine's death, William married Elizabeth Neale and they also had six children - five boys and one girl.

The words on her tombstone are difficult to make out, but one can read Catherine, and what looks like Walker; Wife of William Brent, of Washington, Obiit [she died] July A.D. 1822. What looks like a Latin phrase is followed by R.I.P.


Related links:
Colonel William Brent
Carroll Cemetery, Forest Glen, Maryland
Thomas Johnson Jr., father of Catherine Walker Johnson Brent