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Although a standard history of the area, Old Kent is best known for its genealogies of early Eastern Shore families. The genealogies are based on both public and private records and contain numerous notes on literally hundreds of related families. Old Kent lays claim to being the oldest settlement with an organized government in Maryland, preceding the first settlement at St. Mary's and before the grant of Maryland was made by Charles I to Lord Baltimore. At one time the Kent settlement embraced all of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, including the present-day counties of Talbot, Somerset, Cecil, Dorchester, Queen Anne's, Worcester, and Caroline.