author
Henry Johnson Brent
1811–1880
A 19th-century American writer and painter, he is remembered for the eerie novella Was It a Ghost?, a supernatural mystery first published in 1868. His life bridged literature and art, giving his work an unusual mix of atmosphere and observation.
1 Audiobook
Was it a ghost? The murders in Bussey's wood : An extraordinary narrative
by Henry Johnson Brent
About the author
Born in Washington, D.C., in 1811, Henry Johnson Brent came from the Brent family of Maryland and the capital region. Available records also describe him as a landscape painter, suggesting a creative life that moved between writing and visual art.
As an author, he is best known today for Was It a Ghost? The Murders in Bussey’s Wood: An Extraordinary Narrative (1868), a suspenseful tale with supernatural elements. Modern library and archival listings, including Wikisource and the Smithsonian, preserve his name both as a writer and as an artist.
Brent died in 1880. While not widely known now, his surviving work gives readers a glimpse of 19th-century American taste for mystery, sensation, and the uncanny.