Knight Ancestry Wilcox County, Alabama

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 Knyght/Knight

 
 

Knight

 
Unidentified Wilcox county, Alabama Knight Unidentified Knight with mustache. Unidentified Knight Little boy Unidentified Knight with beard Unidentified Knight with beard Unidentified gentleman Knight Young Knight man with Velvet Collar Young Knight man in hat
Can you identify these pictures of Knights that a cousin sent me?  The pictures were not labeled.  Any clues?

 

 

Generation No. 1

1. WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT was born 1325 in Worcester, England.

Notes for WILLIELMO KNYGHT:

, Knight, James A., III, Knyght after Knyght . The surname Knight is derived from the Saxon word cniht, which means servant. In ancient times, a king would bestow the title of honor o f Knight upon such servants as he chose to single out from the common class of gentlemen. Knights have become legendary figures in England for their warrior feats and daring adventures. Various orders of Knighthood exist in most European nations. The most notable in England are the Knights of St.George, commonly called Knights of the most noble order of the Garter.

Knight was a common surname in some parts of England by the seventeenth century. A Sir John Knight was Mayor of Bristol in 1663.Several years later, another John Knight appeared a s vicar of Banbury.

WILLIELMO KNYGHT, de Bradley paid eight shillings for the fifth part of knight's fee i n the Hundred of Oswldelow in 1346 according to the Lay Subsidies of Worcester.

 

 

Children of WILLIELMO KNYGHT are:

i. RICHARD2 KNIGHT, b. Nottingham, County Surrey, England.

ii. JOHANNES KNIGHT, b. Nottingham, County Surrey, England.

2. iii. RALPH KNIGHT, b. 1350, Nottingham, County Surrey, England.

 

Generation No. 2

2. RALPH2 KNIGHT (WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born 1350 in Nottingham, County Surrey, England.

 

Children of RALPH KNIGHT are:

i. JOHANNES3 KNIGHT, b. Nottingham, County Surrey, England; m. JOHANNA.

3. ii. WILLIAM KNIGHT, b. 1380, Effyngham, County Surrey, England.

 

Generation No. 3

3. WILLIAM3 KNIGHT (RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born 1380 in Effyngham, County Surrey, England.

 

Child of WILLIAM KNIGHT is:

4. i. WILLIAM4 KNIGHT, b. Abt. 1410, Worcester, England; d. 1498.

 

Generation No. 4

4. WILLIAM4 KNIGHT (WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born Abt. 1410 in Worcester, England, and died 1498. He married ELEANOR IWARDLY, daughter of JOHANNES IWARDLY.

 

Child of WILLIAM KNIGHT and ELEANOR IWARDLY is:

5. i. JOHN5 KNIGHT, b. 1440, Lingfield, Co. Surrey, England.

 

Generation No. 5

5. JOHN5 KNIGHT (WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born 1440 in Lingfield, Co. Surrey, England. He married MARGARET WHARTON, daughter of GEORGE WHARTON.

 

Children of JOHN KNIGHT and MARGARET WHARTON are:

i. RICHARD6 KNIGHT, d. 1571.

6. ii. JOHN KNIGHT, b. 1490, Lingfield, Co. Surrey, England; d. 1581.

 

Generation No. 6

6. JOHN6 KNIGHT (JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born 1490 in Lingfield, Co. Surrey, England, and died 1581. He married ELIZABETH SMYTHES.

 

Child of JOHN KNIGHT and ELIZABETH SMYTHES is:

7. i. GEORGE7 KNIGHT, b. 1510, Lingfield, Co. Surrey, England; d. 1596.

 

Generation No. 7

7. GEORGE7 KNIGHT (JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born 1510 in Lingfield, Co. Surrey, England, and died 1596. He married ALICE BROWN, daughter of RICHARD BROWN.

 

Children of GEORGE KNIGHT and ALICE BROWN are:

i. MATTHEW8 KNIGHT, m. AGNES.

8. ii. RICHARD KNIGHT, d. Eastrington, Co. Gloucester, England.

iii. ROBERT KNIGHT, b. 1533; d. Wotton, Co. Surrey, England.

iv. NICHOLAS KNIGHT, b. 1538, Gloucester County, England; m. ELYN BRADSHAW, February 09, 1559/60.

9. v. JOHN KNIGHT, b. 1540, Lingfield, County Surrey, England; d. October 26, 1611, Cowden, England.

 

Generation No. 8

8. RICHARD8 KNIGHT (GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) died in Eastrington, Co. Gloucester, England.

 

Children of RICHARD KNIGHT are:

i. ROBERT9 KNIGHT.

ii. RICHARD KNIGHT.

9. JOHN8 KNIGHT (GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born 1540 in Lingfield, County Surrey, England, and died October 26, 1611 in Cowden, England. He married (1) SILVESTER BERDE. He married (2) ISABEL SAXBIE May 04, 1567.

 

Children of JOHN KNIGHT and ISABEL SAXBIE are:

i. ALEXANDER9 KNIGHT, d. Worcester, England.

ii. PHILIP KNIGHT, d. Worcester, England.

iii. MATTHEW KNIGHT, b. Worcester, England.

iv. HENRY KNIGHT, d. 1639, Gloucester County, England; m. ALICE.

v. FRANCIS KNIGHT, d. August 1616, Bristol England; m. ALDWORTH.

10. vi. JOHN KNIGHT, b. October 14, 1576, in Lingfield, Surrey, England.

 

Generation No. 9

10. JOHN9 KNIGHT (JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born October 14, 1576 in in Lingfield, Surrey, England. He married (1) ELIZABETH WILLIS. He married (2) ELIZABETH WILLIS 1590.

 

Child of JOHN KNIGHT and ELIZABETH WILLIS is:

11. i. EDWARD10 KNIGHT, b. 1590, in Lingfield, Surrey, England.

Children of JOHN KNIGHT and ELIZABETH WILLIS are:

ii. RICHARD10 KNIGHT.

iii. FRANCIS KNIGHT.

iv. FRANCES KNIGHT.

v. STEPHEN KNIGHT.

12. vi. THOMAS KNIGHT, b. Gloucester County, England.

 

Generation No. 10

11. EDWARD10 KNIGHT (JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born 1590 in in Lingfield, Surrey, England. He married ALICE DIMERY May 19, 1611 in in Lingfield, Surrey, England.

 

Notes for ALICE DIMERY:

Children

Giles Knight b: 9 MAY 1614 in Lingfield, Surrey, England

Francis Knight

John Knight

William Knight

Richard Knight

 

Children of EDWARD KNIGHT and ALICE DIMERY are:

i. FRANCIS11 KNIGHT.

ii. JOHN KNIGHT.

iii. WILLIAM KNIGHT.

iv. RCIHARD KNIGHT.

13. v. GILES KNIGHT, b. Abt. 1653, Gloucestershire, England; d. in ByBerry Phila Co. Pa.

12. THOMAS10 KNIGHT (JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born in Gloucester County, England. He married ALICE OSBORNE October 20, 1617.

 

Child of THOMAS KNIGHT and ALICE OSBORNE is:

i. THOMAS11 KNIGHT, m. ELIZABETH HURNE, May 06, 1649.

 

Generation No. 11

13. GILES11 KNIGHT (EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born Abt. 1653 in Gloucestershire, England, and died in in ByBerry Phila Co. Pa. He married (1) ELIZABETH WILLIAMS. He married (2) ELIZABETH PAYNE, daughter of GEORGE PAYNE.

Notes for GILES KNIGHT:

Immigration: 1682 Came to America and settled in Byberry

Event: Politics/Gov't Elected to the Assembly several times

 

 

Notes for ELIZABETH WILLIAMS:

Children

Thomas Knight b: ABT. 1662

Benjamin Knight

Abel Knight

John Knight

 

Child of GILES KNIGHT and ELIZABETH WILLIAMS is:

14. i. ABEL12 KNIGHT, b. 1640, Gloucestershire, England; d. Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

 

Generation No. 12

14. ABEL12 KNIGHT (GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born 1640 in Gloucestershire, England, and died in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He married BROWN, daughter of JOHN BROWN and MARY FOSTER.

Notes for ABEL KNIGHT:

Knyght after Knyght

John Knight and his sister Ann came to America with William Penn arrivingon the "Society" i n Aughst, 1682. Their brothers Abel and Giles came onthe "Welcome" which left England Augus t 30, 1682 and arrived at NewCastle on the Delaware the second week of November. Giles wasac companied on the voyage by his wife Mary English and son, Joseph Knight.

Brothers Abel and John were not listed as supporters (of the friends ofByuberry). Perhaps i t was this religious rift which prompted Abel Knightto relocate to North Carolina.

 

 

Child of ABEL KNIGHT and BROWN is:

15. i. JOHN13 KNIGHT, b. Abt. 1668.

 

Generation No. 13

15. JOHN13 KNIGHT (ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born Abt. 1668.

Notes for JOHN KNIGHT:

Sources:

Title: Janice Billy - 1757 Glendale Street, Jacksonville, FL 32205-9368(jbilly@coj.net) - 199 6/97 (Information from "Pioneers of WiregrassGeorgia" series ofNote: Janice Billy

Title: Peggy R. Tilley - 1502 SW 78th Terrace, Oklahoma City, OK 73159(LNDT52A@prodigy.com ) - 1997 includes information from "Adventures ofPurse and Person"Note: Peggy R. Tilley

Title: Carolyn Knight Tamblyn - 706 Hollon Ave., Auburn, AL 36830(ctamblyn@auburn.campus.mci. net) - 10/97 (Knight Times)Note: Carolyn Knight Tamblyn

Title: Dick Cardell - 1519 Cornell Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32207(dcardell@bellsouth.net) - 11/9 7Note: Dick Cardell

Title: "History And Family Tree Of John Knight, R.S. And His Son, Jonathan,In South Georgia A nd Florida" By: W. Taylor Knight, 1108 Linda Drive,Valdosta, GeNote: History And Family Tre e Of John Knight, R.S.

Title: Don Knight - 811 Longmeadow Dr., Schaumburg, IL 60193(doknight@flash.net) - 9/97 - Edi tor, The Knight LetterNote: Don Knight

 

 

Children of JOHN KNIGHT are:

16. i. JOHN14 KNIGHT , XIII, b. North Carolina; d. February 18, 1762, Sussex County, Virginia.

ii. EDWARD KNIGHT.

iii. WILLIAM KNIGHT, b. 1690, Bertie County, North Carolina; d. December 03, 1751, Bertie County, North Carolina; m. MARTHA.

 

Generation No. 14

16. JOHN14 KNIGHT , XIII (JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born in North Carolina, and died February 18, 1762 in Sussex County, Virginia. He married ELIZABETH EPPS Abt. 1729 in in Albemarle Parish, Sussex Co, VA, daughter of DANIEL EPPS and MARY JORDAN.

Notes for JOHN KNIGHT , XIII:

He lived in Sussex, Sussex Co, VA.He was either a grandson or great-grandson of the pioneer immigrant, Captain Peter Knight. (History And Family Tree of John Knight, R.S.) Will date d 17 Feb 1760, probated 18 Feb 1762 (Sussex Co., VA Will Book A, p. 229). (Carolyn Tamblyn)

 

 

Notes for ELIZABETH EPPS:

Source: "Adventures of Purse and Person". It gives the date of Daniel Epps will, 16 Sep 1749 - 16 Jan 1753 in Surry Co, VA. The will cites his dau. Elizabeth and his wife Mary. Some think that Mary's name was Jordan. (Peggy R. Tilley)

 

Children of JOHN KNIGHT and ELIZABETH EPPS are:

i. WILLIAM15 KNIGHT.

ii. JOHN KNIGHT, d. 1771; m. ELIZABETH WOODSON.

iii. JORDAN KNIGHT, m. ELIZABETH.

iv. EDWARD KNIGHT.

v. JOEL KNIGHT, m. HANNAH.

vi. RICHARD KNIGHT, d. September 21, 1759; m. (1) MARTHA; m. (2) ELIZABETH.

17. vii. PETER KNIGHT III, b. January 08, 1738/39; d. May 09, 1809.

viii. SARAH ANN KNIGHT, b. August 25, 1742.

ix. MARY KNIGHT, b. September 04, 1749.

 

Generation No. 15

17. PETER15 KNIGHT III (JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born January 08, 1738/39, and died May 09, 1809. He married BELL ANN Abt. 1729 in in Albemarle Parish, Sussex Co, VA, daughter of ARTHUR BELL.

Notes for PETER KNIGHT III:

Will dated 9 May 1809, probated Nov 1811, p. 25. (Carolyn Knight Tamblyn)

Children

Jesse Knight </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barlow&id=I019> b: in Edgecombe Co, NC

Arthur Knight </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barlow&id=I020> b: ABT. 1768 in Edgecombe Co, NC

John Knight </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barlow&id=I021> b: ABT. 1770 in Edgecombe Co, NC

Willis Knight </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barlow&id=I022> b: ABT. 1775 in Edgecombe Co, NC

Lucy Knight </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barlow&id=I023> b: 14 FEB 1782 in Edgecombe Co, NC

Charles Knight </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barlow&id=I026> b: ABT. 1784 in Edgecombe Co, NC

Mary Knight </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barlow&id=I027> b: ABT. 1786 in Edgecombe Co, NC

Elizabeth Knight </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barlow&id=I028> b: ABT. 1790 in Edgecombe Co, N C

Peter Epps Knight </cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=barlow&id=I029> b: 4 SEP 1796 in Edgecombe Co , NC

 

 

Title: Janice Billy - 1757 Glendale Street, Jacksonville, FL 32205-9368(jbilly@coj.net) - 199 6/97 (Information from "Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia" series of Note: Don Knight

 

 

Notes for BELL ANN:

Will dated 24 Aug 1816, probated 1820, Book E, p. 247. (Carolyn Tamblyn)

 

Children of PETER KNIGHT and BELL ANN are:

i. PETER EPPS16 KNIGHT.

ii. ARTHUR KNIGHT, d. April 25, 1824; m. SALLY.

18. iii. JOHN KNIGHT.

19. iv. WILLIS KNIGHT, d. July 22, 1845.

20. v. CHARLES KNIGHT, d. October 19, 1786.

vi. LUCY KNIGHT, m. BATTS.

21. vii. MARY KNIGHT.

viii. ELIZABETH KNIGHT.

22. ix. JESSE KNIGHT, b. Abt. 1780; d. December 16, 1815, Edgecombe County, S.C..

 

Generation No. 16

18. JOHN16 KNIGHT (PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT). He married ELIZABETH.

 

Child of JOHN KNIGHT and ELIZABETH is:

i. JOSEPH17 KNIGHT.

19. WILLIS16 KNIGHT (PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) died July 22, 1845. He married POLLY.

 

Child of WILLIS KNIGHT and POLLY is:

i. JORDAN17 KNIGHT.

20. CHARLES16 KNIGHT (PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) died October 19, 1786. He married MARY MALLORY.

 

Child of CHARLES KNIGHT and MARY MALLORY is:

i. TEMPERENCE17 KNIGHT, b. September 27, 1773; m. JAMES DANIEL.

21. MARY16 KNIGHT (PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT). She married LAWRENCE.

 

Child of MARY KNIGHT and LAWRENCE is:

23. i. JOSHUA17 LAWRENCE.

22. JESSE16 KNIGHT (PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born Abt. 1780, and died December 16, 1815 in Edgecombe County, S.C.. He married COBB MARY Abt. 1800.

 

Notes for COBB MARY:

Jesse's 1st wife is unknown. His 2nd wife was Mary Cobb who after Jesse's death married his brother Willis. She may have been the mother of Sylvia. (Carolyn Tamblyn)Will dated 16 D ec 1815, probated Feb 1816, Book E, p. 122. (Carolyn Tamblyn)

 

Children of JESSE KNIGHT and COBB MARY are:

i. ARTHUR17 KNIGHT, d. February 07, 1834.

ii. LEWIS KNIGHT, m. (1) EADY FOSTER; m. (2) REBECCA VAUGHN, January 01, 1805.

iii. PETER KNIGHT, d. 1810.

iv. SYLVIA KNIGHT.

v. JESSE B. KNIGHT, d. 1816.

vi. LYDIA KNIGHT, m. DEMPSEY DANIEL.

vii. NANCY KNIGHT, m. WILLIAM HAINEY.

viii. TEMPERANCE KNIGHT, m. THOMAS HAINES.

ix. MARTHA (PATSY) KNIGHT, m. MATTHIAS MILLER.

x. ELIZABETH (BETSY) KNIGHT, m. GARRY BATTS.

xi. ALLEN KNIGHT.

24. xii. EDWIN KNIGHT, b. December 10, 1805, Edgecombe County, S.C.; d. January 29, 1852, Monterey, Bullar (Butler) Co., Mount Moriah Cemetery, Alabama.

 

Generation No. 17

23. JOSHUA17 LAWRENCE (MARY16 KNIGHT, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT).

 

Child of JOSHUA LAWRENCE is:

i. JOHN18 LAWRENCE.

24. EDWIN17 KNIGHT (JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born December 10, 1805 in Edgecombe County, S.C., and died January 29, 1852 in Monterey, Bullar (Butler) Co., Mount Moriah Cemetery, Alabama. He married MARTHA WATSON, daughter of SCOTT.

Notes for EDWIN KNIGHT:

1 AUTH to Willis Knight, Dec. 25, 1826

1 AGNC Deed Book 19 of Edcombe County: Edwin Knight of Bullar Co., alabama

 

 

Children of EDWIN KNIGHT and MARTHA WATSON are:

25. i. JENE18 KNIGHT.

ii. THOMAS KNIGHT, m. JULIA POSEY.

iii. AMANDA KNIGHT, m. WILL PALMER.

iv. EDWIN G. KNIGHT.

26. v. COMER KNIGHT.

vi. AGNES KNIGHT.

vii. MONROE KNIGHT.

viii. MARY KNIGHT, m. WILL YELDELL.

27. ix. LEWIS JACKSON KNIGHT, b. August 19, 1829, Monterey, Butler Co., Alabama; d. August 11, 1863, Monterey, Mount Moriah Cemetery, Butler County, Alabama.

 

Generation No. 18

25. JENE18 KNIGHT (EDWIN17, JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT). He married BETTY SCOTT.

 

Children of JENE KNIGHT and BETTY SCOTT are:

28. i. JOHN19 KNIGHT.

ii. "JOS" WATKINS KNIGHT.

iii. ALICE MERRIT KNIGHT.

iv. AMANDA MILTON KNIGHT, m. BARGE.

29. v. LON KNIGHT.

30. vi. MATTIE KNIGHT.

31. vii. AGGIE KNIGHT.

32. viii. EANIE KNIGHT.

26. COMER18 KNIGHT (EDWIN17, JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT). He married LAURA POSEY.

 

Children of COMER KNIGHT and LAURA POSEY are:

33. i. JULIA19 KNIGHT.

ii. BELLE KNIGHT, m. WHEELER WATTS.

iii. COMER KNIGHT.

iv. TRAIL KNIGHT.

27. LEWIS JACKSON18 KNIGHT (EDWIN17, JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born August 19, 1829 in Monterey, Butler Co., Alabama, and died August 11, 1863 in Monterey, Mount Moriah Cemetery, Butler County, Alabama. He married CATHERINE PALMER, daughter of STEPHEN PALMER and JULIET HARTWELL.

Notes for LEWIS JACKSON KNIGHT:

The History of Butler County, p. 123.

Among the other families most conspicuous in Monterey's earliest history,are the families o f Billy Powell, who was the father of J. L. Powell, now of Greenville, William Traweek and Jesse Knight.

There was a considerable amount of whisky sold at this place before thewar, and the village b ore the reputation of being one of the rowdiest places in the whole section of the country. Th is was caused from the fact that a great many of the young men, then living in the vicinity of Monterey, would come over and get under the influence of whisky, and inthis state, they often had difficulties with persons in whose company they happened to be. In those days, it was n o uncommon thing for a man to be cut all to pieces in a fight at Monterey. However, there wer e not many lives lost compared to the number of fights. Horse-racing, cockfighting, and amusements of a similar nature, were frequently indulged in, and many hundreds were spent in gambling and betting. Allthis was done in the "flush times of Alabama," before the country wasdrain ed of its money by the war between the States.

The fight between Joe Yeldell and Dr. James Longmire threw a damper onrowdyism at Monterey, w hich lasted for some time. Joe Yeldell was killedby Dr. Longmire, and the latter was cleare d in the courts for the deed.

The murder of Richard Hartsfield, by two slaves in 1862, created moreexcitement among the peo ple of the surrounding country than anything thatever happened at Monterey, before or since.

The following are the facts of the case: Richard Hartsfield was amechanic, and ranked high a mong the people who knew him as a man of honorand integrity, and was a first-class contractor . He was born in theState of Georgi, April 28, 1830, and was killed on the morning ofFebruar y 10, 1862. He purchased two slaves, Simon and Lewis, from thePeaster Estate. These slave s soon began to hate their master, andaccordingly began to make plots to kill him. Their pla ns were executedon a bright, frosty morning in February, 1862. Their master gave ordersto ha ve some hogs killed, which had been fattened in some hogs killed,which had been fattened i n a pen near a spring, about two hundred yardsfrom the residence. Mr. Hartsfield came down t o the spring to shoot thehogs for the Negroes, but found that the water was not not enough to scald, and he began to stir up the fire around the cattle. WhileHartsfield was stooping down , punching the fire, Lewis struck him with anax, crushing his skull. Simon struck him wit h a fence rail, andterminated his life immediately. ONe of the negrods then ran to thehouse , asked their mistress for their master's horse, telling her thatthe hogs had broken out of t he pen and the horse was needed to get himback. The horse was saddled and brought to the spr ing. It was theintention of Simon and Lewis to put their dead master on the wild horse,fix o ne of his feet tightly in one stirrup, and turn the horse loose, andsay that he was thrown an d killed. The animal was a fine, ambitious bay,and had only been managed by his master, an d emphatically resisted allattempts to place the dead man upon him. The heartless murderers, failing in this part of their plot, smeared a small stump with blood, anddragged their maste r from it some distance, and left him lying dead.They then turned loose the enraged horse, wh ich ram many miles, snortingand looking back as if pursued, and seemingly greatly frightened . Theyimmediately informed their mistress of the deatn of their master, tellingher that he w as thrown from his horse, and his foot was caught in onestirrup, and was dragged some distanc e before it was released. Thefrightened horse, with gloody saddle, stopping and snorting a t everyhouse on the road, and instantly galloping on, showed the people thatsomething terribl e had happened, and every man thus informed immediatelyrepaired to the bloody scene. When th e neighbors saw blood on Simon'sshirt; that the hogs were never killed; that there ws blood o n the sddle;they immediately saw through the whole plot, and had the murderers arrested. Aft r the burial of Mr. Hartsfield, at which every person fourteen miles around was present, T.M.B . Traweek, Justice of the Peace, called a preliminary trial of the case, and, from the evidences brought forth, found the negroes guilty, and ordered them to be carried to jail, at Greenvill e, the next morning. Lewis Knight, a prominent in the neighborhood, made a touching speech to the excited assembly, and ended by saying, that "all those in favor of burning these bloodthirsty devils, will step on the opposite side of the road." Every man immediately stepped on the other side of the road, except the Justice of the Peace and the four men who had been appointed to carry the prisoners to jail. Those in favor of burning the murders then resolved themselves into a mob and adjourned, to meet next morning at the post-office before sunrise. Next morning long before the appointed time of meeting, the little village was astir with excitement, and the streets were thronged with the enraged mob, bent on the destruction of the helpless prisoners. After some delays, the mob marched up the Greenville road, about three-quarters of a mile from the post-office and stopped on a small hill. Here they waited several hours for the victims of their wrath to pass on their way to Greenville. Finally they came. They were take n from their guard, and locked with chains to two pines, standing close together. Pine knots were collected from every direction and piled round the trees. The mob had, but this time, increased to over one thousand persons. Everything being ready, the torch was applied, and the angry flames soon licked the tops of the trees. It is said that a fire never burned more energetically, and flames never leaped more triumphantly, than in the burning of these two murderers . Shortly before the burning, Simon confessed the deed, and related the details of the murder , but Lewis never did confess it.

 

 

Notes for CATHERINE PALMER:

1 AUTH tombstone Palmer Cemetery, Furman, Al

 

Children of LEWIS KNIGHT and CATHERINE PALMER are:

34. i. NAPOLEON O.19 KNIGHT, b. May 14, 1856, Monterey, Alabama; d. September 02, 1941, Furman, Alabama Wilcox County.

ii. TULU KNIGHT, m. WILL LUCAS.

iii. ESTELLE KNIGHT, b. September 16, 1854.

iv. EUGENE C. KNIGHT, b. May 10, 1858; d. September 11, 1863, Monterey, Mount Moriah Cemetery, Butler County, Alabama.

Notes for EUGENE C. KNIGHT:

killed by a negro

 

 

35. v. CONRAD W. KNIGHT, b. October 25, 1860; d. September 13, 1891.

vi. LEWIS-CATHERINE KNIGHT, b. August 16, 1863; d. June 20, 1879.

 

Generation No. 19

28. JOHN19 KNIGHT (JENE18, EDWIN17, JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT). He married (1) EMMA WATSON. He married (2) EMMA WATSON, daughter of WILLIAM WATSON and ELIZABETH MCWHORTER.

 

Children of JOHN KNIGHT and EMMA WATSON are:

i. JESSIE20 KNIGHT, m. FRANK ATKINS.

ii. BIRDIE KNIGHT.

29. LON19 KNIGHT (JENE18, EDWIN17, JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT). He married MOLLIE WRIGHT.

 

Children of LON KNIGHT and MOLLIE WRIGHT are:

i. JESSE20 KNIGHT.

ii. VINCA KNIGHT.

30. MATTIE19 KNIGHT (JENE18, EDWIN17, JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT). She married RICHARD STANFORD.

 

Child of MATTIE KNIGHT and RICHARD STANFORD is:

i. BELLE20 STANFORD.

31. AGGIE19 KNIGHT (JENE18, EDWIN17, JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT). She married TOM GRIMES.

 

Children of AGGIE KNIGHT and TOM GRIMES are:

i. BEANIE20 GRIMES.

ii. EANIE GRIMES.

32. EANIE19 KNIGHT (JENE18, EDWIN17, JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT). She married JIM COGGINS.

 

Children of EANIE KNIGHT and JIM COGGINS are:

i. PAULINE20 COGGINS.

ii. VINCE COGGINS.

33. JULIA19 KNIGHT (COMER18, EDWIN17, JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT). She married T. WATTS.

 

Children of JULIA KNIGHT and T. WATTS are:

i. EARL20 WATTS.

ii. T. WATTS.

iii. LUCILLE WATTS.

iv. LAURA WATTS.

34. NAPOLEON O.19 KNIGHT (LEWIS JACKSON18, EDWIN17, JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born May 14, 1856 in Monterey, Alabama, and died September 02, 1941 in Furman, Alabama Wilcox County. He married MARGARET LUCY WATSON October 1879 in Furman, Alabama Wilcox County, daughter of WILLIAM WATSON and ELIZABETH MCWHORTER.

Notes for NAPOLEON O. KNIGHT:

Elliece Tucker told Sharman Burson, according to mother Jean Burson

"Grandfather was totally deaf long before grandmother passed away. Yet he could read her lips or hear her voice. After her death his world was silent for none could make him hear . "

Family says grandson Thomas is living duplicate of grandpa "Leon" Thomas is about 5 feet 5 or 6 inches, slender build, completely white hair, blue eyes, soft spoken and quiet personality with an obvious peaceful expression.

 

 

Children of NAPOLEON KNIGHT and MARGARET WATSON are:

i. ELIZABETH JANE20 KNIGHT, b. August 27, 1883, Furman, Wilcox County, Alabama; d. 1968, Furman, Wilcox County, Alabama, buried in Palmer Cemetery; m. ELKANAH GEORGE BURSON , DR., February 20, 1914, Selma, Alabama.

Notes for ELIZABETH JANE KNIGHT:

"I told Ellie ya'll were coming," she said as in turn she greeted each of us with a hug. Her ice blue eyes warmed with the smile which welcomed us. The long black dress and lace up shoes lent a quiet dignity to the tall lady that was my father's mother standing at the top of a steep hill of stairs. The cameo which held her lace fichu in place scratched me when I reached up to hug my grandmother. I felt strangely guilty that somehow the affection that I expended on this grandmother robbed my other grandmother. My other grandmother, widowed, living on a pension and money from my mother while this grandmother lived in a grand house with Austrian chandeliers and rooms so filled with valuables that the doors were shut to protect them from small children.  I did not realize how hard won those treasures had been.

Mother smiled and winked. She'd predicted those words as we drove down the rutted road and through the gate above which hung a sign grandly pronouncing "Wakefield." "How much longer?" my sister and I had asked every five minutes since we'd left the bus stop in Greenville and our breakfast of greasy hamburgers and french fries. We'd fought for the crack in the window for a breath of fresh air and relief from the speeding cloud of smoke in which we rode. The white picket fence that curved along the front lawn of the Hawthorne House in Pine Apple alerted us that shortly down that winding road upon our left we'd spot the white plantation house up on the hill just beyond the next curve. The next curve? How about that next curve?

Gravel splattered as my father spun into the driveway in that year's model Cadillac. And sure enough as Mother said, there stood Nanny waiting on the back porch at the top of the high brick stairs.

The double doors opened and Papa emerged with Eliece close behind. "Somehow your mother knew you were coming," he said, stiffly embracing Daddy. Daddy had to lean down to hug his father and have the wet kiss that planted upon his cheek that we all received in turn. Doctors both,t hey wore the uniform of a professional, a suit and tie. It was only when leukemia weakened hi m and I saw him last in University Hospital in Birmingham dying of leukemia, that I ever saw m y grandfather in anything but sartorial splendor. Following his example, my father even washed cars in his suit.

Elliece, my father's older sister, welcomed us as well, though the smile on her lips never reached her eyes and you could almost see the sparks when she greeted my mother with the proper words. Mother responded in kind. Following behind, like a loyal hunting dog, came her second husband, pipe in hand, gravelly voice urging, "Come on in, the gas is on and the cold air is coming in."

We all trooped down the echoing hall of ebony stained wood, past the eleven foot hall mirror and antique vases into my grandmother's bedroom sitting room. There I climbed the stairs to the tester bed with the bold burgandy sunburst canopy, crawled over the Sunday funnies, and collapsed with the headache that long ride with mother and daddy smoking always produced. Sylvia, my sister , joined me.

A cluster of rocking chairs were gathered at the foot of the bed in front of the fireplace an d TV set. Nanny's chair had gold velvet cushions. To Nanny's displeasure, everyone smoked, but the ceiilings were so high and the air so cold, that the air in that room remained refreshing. Listening to the adults talk land, timber and cows, and watching the columns of smoke parry and thrust as it rose to the ceiling, I dozed off and the headache eased.

Soon the women headed to the kitchen where Nanny supervised Dorothy and the preparation for the feast in the formal dining room. Someone set the huge mahogany table with white gold rimmed china, silver (two forks, soup and tea spoons) in addition to a knife and place spoon), line n napkins and fragile etched crystal (tea and water glasses). The brocade curtains and huge oaks blocked the sunlight and the room was always dark. Dinner always began with Nanny's soup made from chicken stock with noodles and tomatoes and progressed to stuffed chicken and roast , cranberry sauce, thick gravy, dumplings turnips that Nanny had picked from her garden early t hat morning, buttermilk corn bread, and tea sweet as syrup. By the time the cake came from the breakfast room to top it off there was little room left, but no one let that stop them.

On warm days we'd head out to the wide verandah on the first floor beneath the verandah on the second floor. Green painted lattice framed the two. Sitting in the wooden rockers, we'd drink cold Coca Cola out of little bottles they'd stocked up on at their weekly trip to Selma last Friday.

Then, I didn't know the import of sitting there on that front porch looking through the plank s of the white picket fence at the top of the hill, beyond which steps went down to the highway. Across the street was another house, a small nondescript country house with a front porch looking up to the house on which porch we sat. I thought we were just watching the traffic whiz by. I did not realize that for my grandparents we were measuring a life journey that could not be measured in miles. I was an adult when I knew that my father had grown up in the house across the street. In the mornings when my grandfather had gone to the front porch to urinate in the flowerbed, he'd look up at the house across the street and dream of owning it. (Nanny spread lots of lye to counteract his morning habit.)

Over the years as scarce money had come, depression years, a time when doctors had been paid frequently in produce, he'd invested it in land. Nanny picked pecans for extra money and carried water from a stream behind the house. Finally Miss Laura Gulley agreed to sell in return for being taken care of in her old age. The demise of the ancient lady occurred after my father went off to college. Then Papa and Nanny went to New Orleans and Savannah and from the anti que shops selected a rare collection of furnishings that only later came to be appreciated.

This must have been a busy time of life for my grandmother. My father got homesick at the University and almost before my grandmother could get home, he'd show up on the doorstep. Finally she went to stay with him and give him time to acclimate to college life. But, when she cam e home, he followed. He got a job driving a truck. It only took one hot Saturday unloading tin to make him decide college was for him.

The one room school house prepared him well and he did not have to take any remedial courses . Only German gave him trouble. When my father asked the German professor for a reference t o medical school, he was wise enough to read the document before sending it on. "Mr. Burson is by no means an excellent student," he read. That reference was disposed of quickly. The University of Alabama Medical School rejected him, but he was accepted at Tulane and finished school there.

Elliece attended the University of Alabama only long enough to go through rush and elope wit h the F. Scott Fitzgerald of Wilcox County, Claude Williams, a traveling salesman. This tumultuous relationship produced many weekend parties, drunken sprees and fearful nights hiding from a husband waving a gun, one son and ended in divorce. During this time Nanny nearly raised Sonny, Elliece's son.

My sister, brother and I were children of later life. My father had finished medical school and served the Army in the Pacific before he met my mother at Walter Reed Medical Hospital in Augusta, Georgia, where that green-eyed Army nurse from Brewton, Alabama captivated the Wilcox County country boy known by his fraternity brothers at Sigma Chi as "Dude."

Nanny was old before I knew her. Elliece was her father's pet, spoiled and arrogant with tall , elegant good looks. She considered herself a Burson, a cut above the Knights from which he r mother came. Ironically,in tracing the geneaology through which Elliece entered the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Daughters of the Revolution, and Colonial Dames, I discovered t hat it is through Nanny's line that we are descended from William the Conqueror and Charlemagne, and are eligible for Magna Carta Dames, knowledge of which would have made my aunt insufferable. Elliece could dissect my grandmother with a word.

The tension was palpable on those visits. The competition between Elliece and her siblings was ever apparent. Elliece's grandchildren were our age and she was jealous of any gift or attention Nanny and Papa gave us. I sometimes think that is why she was there for those meals, not to help, but to stand between any bond that might develop.

Because of Elliece's behavior my Aunt Elizabeth could not go to the University of Alabama, but had to attend Montevallo, where she was one of their beauties. My grandfather would not let her study medicine, but insisted she become a teacher. She took a business curriculum, but became a secretary, her form of rebellion. A short marriage to Dudley Hart ended in divorce . She stayed away from these family get-to-gethers as much as possible. The strain was not worth the trip.

By two o'clock on Sunday afternoon, the long ride back to Dothan before dark brought us to our feet and the goodbyes overflowed onto the driveway as we packed into the car. After kisses all around and all the proper words, we headed back through the gate and down the road. Nanny stood there on that porch right where we'd first glimpsed her. Now looking back I realize she clung to the last sight of her only son, reluctant to return to the critical analysis that would ensue at the foot of that tester bed. In those moments she probably relived the time when that son had clung to her and was reluctant to leave home; a time when she'd had to break that unnatural dependency so that son could be a man. The bond was never really broken. When she died I watched my father sob. Thinking back now about the two houses facing each other one wonders whether the move across the street was truly progress.

Sharman Burson Ramsey

November 9, 1996

Notes for ELKANAH GEORGE BURSON , DR.:

1 AUTH Spring Hill and interned in New York at the College of Physicians and Surgeons

1 AGNC State of issue: AL

1 DEST Last residence: AL 36741

 

[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1, Ed. 3, Social Security Records:U.S., SS Death Benefit Records, Surnames Beginning with B, Date ofImport: Jun 30, 1996, Internal Ref. #1.111.3.319 70.189]

Individual: Burson, Elkanah

Birth date: Apr 7, 1882

Death date: Apr 1970

Social Security #: 419-52-8280

Last residence: AL 36741

State of issue: AL

"Tis something akin to the immortals that makes us long not to be altogether unworthy of the fame of our ancestors."

E. Burson

The story of our family in the twentieth century must begin with Wakefield. For years my grandfather, a country doctor in rural Wilcox County, Alabama, would get up and go out on the front porch of his house to look up the hill at the Steamboat Gothic plantation house across the street. The "Laura Gulley" place, otherwise known as Wakefield, had been moved piece by piece into "town" from the plantation several miles away down the Farmersville Road. The move across the street and his subsequent ownership of the plantation became a symbol of a change in status for the family that came to America as Quakers a part of the William Penn exodus from England. The ancestors of Elizabeth Knight whom Dr. Elkanah George Burson eventually married were also a part of that movement and came in the first wave of immigration to settle also in Pennsylvania and make their way South, as did the Burson family.

Elkanah George Burson (1882-1970) studied medicine at Alabama College in Mobile and interned in New York at Bellevue Hospital, the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He practiced medicine in Furman until his death in April 1970. He was a handsome man who dressed dapperly until the day he died. His son, also a doctor who moved to Houston County after World War II, remembered the many nights someone would come knocking on the door needing a doctor to come make a call on a sick patient. He'd saddle up the horse, put on the Mackintosh to protect him from the rain, and ride out into the night. Cars like the one he drove in the picture couldn't make it down the rain slicked dirt roads.

Favorite stories were of the patient who invited father and son to stay for supper. When the y noted that everything was being cooked in the same pot, the patient commented: "Well, it' s all going to the same place, aint it?" Another patient bought a new car and was forever out tooling about, riding hither and yon. Upon comment, the man replied: ""Doc, them wheel's i s made round for rollin'."

He worked hard as a doctor and saved. His children remembered eating biscuits with only molasses for lunch at the one room school house they attended. E. G. Burson, Jr. vowed he'd be able to afford white bread one day so he could have a sandwich like the other kids. At the time of Dr. Elkanah George Burson, Sr.'s death he owned 8000 acres of land and a plantation house with an enviable collection of antiques he acquired in St. Louis, Savannah, Montgomery, and New Orleans. As the doctor for the railroad, he traveled for free and made friends with dealers in all of those areas after purchasing the Laura Gulley house across the street from the home he raised his children in (about 1939). He and his wife enjoyed traveling and collecting during those years. Elizabeth Knight Burson favored cut glass so she owned an exquisite collection at the time of her death.

Methodist faith

 

ii. DEWEY KNIGHT, m. BERNICE.

iii. MALCOMB KNIGHT.

iv. LANA ESTELLE KNIGHT, b. December 07, 1880; m. WILL ROMELL.

v. LEON KNIGHT, b. December 16, 1881; m. LILY.

vi. LAURA GULLEY KNIGHT, b. October 18, 1884.

vii. WILLIE CURREY KNIGHT, b. October 18, 1884.

viii. PATTI LEE KNIGHT, b. September 04, 1887.

ix. CONRAD WALNE KNIGHT, b. November 18, 1888.

35. CONRAD W.19 KNIGHT (LEWIS JACKSON18, EDWIN17, JESSE16, PETER15, JOHN14, JOHN13, ABEL12, GILES11, EDWARD10, JOHN9, JOHN8, GEORGE7, JOHN6, JOHN5, WILLIAM4, WILLIAM3, RALPH2, WILLIELMO1 KNYGHT) was born October 25, 1860, and died September 13, 1891.

 

Children of CONRAD W. KNIGHT are:

i. MALCOLM20 KNIGHT.

ii. GLADYS KNIGHT.

iii. MARGARET ANN KNIGHT.

iv. OWEN KNIGHT.