Robert Young Brent was the only son of Robert Brent, the first mayor of Washington D.C., and his wife Mary Young. His mother died young, about 1800, his father died in 1819, and his only sibling, Eleanor Brent Pearson, died in 1818. Robert Young Brent was married first, in 1814, to Elizabeth Carere, daughter of John Carere. They had one son, Robert Carere Brent, who died before his father. Elizabeth died in 1817 and Robert married a second time, in 1824, to Harriet Cottringer. Robert and Harriet had seven children.

Robert died on 7 Dec 1855 at The Highlands, his property in Maryland, the area now called Rock Creek Hills, near Forest Glen. Harriet died ten years later on 10 October 1865. Both are buried in St. John the Evangelist Cemetery, also known as the Carroll Cemetery, in Forest Glen, Maryland.

Related links
St. John the Evangelist Cemetery, Forest Glen, Maryland
Gravestone of Robert Brent, Robert Young Brent's father, Forest Glen, Maryland