Toby, I have been looking around at our family geneology resources. The Kents have a lot of New Jersey connections. I didn't find any from Mass. We started out not as the Kent clan - from Kent England or the name of a group of cloth makers, but from the northern European "Kindt's". We had that spelling into mid 1700's. When we visited Egypt we found out that one of the major population groups of Egypt looks like us. Green eyes, ruddy skin, fleshy face and dark curly hair. The other major group looks more like relatives of Anwar Sadat - Dark eyes, olive skin, even curlier dark hair. I felt right at home. We have also met up with some other Kents from Nebraska (like my dad) who had the same careers and traits: teaching, art, theater. I would be very interested in seeing a picture of your friend. If you sent me an e-mail I'll sent you a photo of my dad and his parents too. Thanks Brian Kent revbkent@sbcglobal.net