Smith and Young Families of northern Rhode Island

Smith and Young Families of northern Rhode Island




Knight Family




Thanks to my distant cousin William and to Bonnie for providing information on the
old Knight Family. Thanks to my cousins at the Knight Apple Orchard in West Greenville
for information on their branch of the family.




For a comprehensive overview of the Rhode Island Knight Family, click here.






***Richard1 Knight
b. January 14, 1603   in Romsey, Wiltshire, Hants, England
m. January 16, 1648 in Newport, R.I. Sarah Rogers   b. 1625 in Plymouth, Mass.    d. abt. 1684 in R.I.
d. Abt. 1680 in Newport, R.I.?

Richard Knight first appears in colony records in Hampton, N.H. in 1640. After some legal trouble,
Richard moved to Newport, Rhode Island by 1646. He was a carpenter, a keeper of the Newport prison,
and a "General Sergeant" for Newport up to 1658. He was made a Freeman in Rhode Island in 1655. He
apparently served in King Phillip's War, since he received a grant of 100 acres of land in the new
East Greenwich lands in 1677. This information is from Moriarty, 1933, "The Early Knights of Rhode Island," NEHGS
Register, Vol. 87, pp. 264-270.


children:
John2 Knight (Abt. 1649 - 1701)
***Capt. Jonathan2 Knight
David2 Knight (1656 - 1744)
Richard2 Knight (1658 - 1754)
Priscilla2 Knight (1662 - ?)
Rebecca2 Knight (1665 - ?)





***Capt. Jonathan2 Knight (Richard1)
b. About 1653 in Newport, R.I.?
m. July 17, 1674   Hannah Bennett?    b. Abt. 1655 in R.I. d. July 10, 1713 in Providence, R.I.
d. June 25, 1717 in Providence, R.I.

Jonathan was made a Freeman in 1678. He moved to Providence from Warwick in 1695. He was a captain
in the Providence militia company. See Moriarty, 1933, NEHGS Register, Vol. 87, pp. 264-270.


children:
Hannah3 Knight (1680 - 1743?)
Jonathan3 Knight (1682 - 1762)
***Richard3 Knight
Capt. Robert3 Knight (1689 - 1771)
Joseph3 Knight (1694 - 1750)
Marcy3 Knight (1690 - ?)





***Richard3 Knight (Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. September 24, 1685 in Warwick, R.I.?
m. Abt. 1704    Penelope ( ? )   b. 1687 in Cranston   d. ?
d. October 24, 1754 in Cranston, R.I.


children:
***Ensign Christopher4 Knight
William4 Knight (1714 - 1786)
Richard4 Knight (1716 - 1770)
Lt. Jeremiah4 Knight (1719 - 1800)





***Ensign Christopher4 Knight (Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. Abt. 1711 in Cranston, R.I.
m1. July 27, 1731 in Coventry, R.I.   Penelope Arnold   b. Abt. 1701 in South Kingstown, R.I.   d. 1761 in Falmouth, N.S.
m2. About 1771 in Cranston, R.I.?   Elizabeth Shipee Harrington   b. Abt. 1714 in Cranston, R.I.   d. ?
d. After 1771 in Falmouth, Nova Scotia


children1:

***Jonathan5 Knight
Job5 Knight (Abt. 1760 - Aft. 1858?)
(Job Knight's family moved to New York and later Michigan)





***Jonathan5 Knight (Ensign Christoper4, Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. Abt. 1742 in Cranston, R.I.?
m1. ?   Elizabeth (Betsey) Stone   b. Abt. 1746 in Coventry, R.I.   d. Bef. 1764?
m2. ?   Hannah Matteson   b. Abt. 1746 in Coventry, R.I.   d. 1764-1765 in Coventry, R.I.
m3. June 6, 1765 in Coventry, R.I.   Hannah Howe Stone b. Abt. 1745 in R.I.   d. 1858? in Pennsylvania?
d. Abt. 1830 in Coventry, R.I.?
burial: unknown

Jonathan was a blacksmith in Coventry, R.I.


children3:
Asa6 Knight (1767 - 1854; Asa's family moved to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin after 1800)
Abigail6 Knight (1769 - 1858; moved to Pennsylvania)
Clark6 Knight (1772 - 1831)
***Reuben6 Knight
Nathan6 Knight (1778 - 1858)
Caleb6 Knight (1780 - 1855)





***Reuben6 Knight (Jonathan5, Ensign Christopher4, Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. 1774 in Coventry, R.I.
m. December 10, 1795 in Coventry, R.I.   Rachel Wood   b. ?   d. ?
d. 1825 in Coventry, R.I.?
burial: unknown

Reuben was a blacksmith in Coventry.


children:
***Curnel (Colonel)7 Knight
Mary7 Knight (Abt. 1798 - ?)





***Curnel (Colonel)7 Knight (Reuben6, Jonathan5, Ensign Christopher4, Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. August 21, 1796 in Coventry, R.I.
m. August 2, 1818 in Coventry, R.I.   Elizabeth (Betsey) Wilcox     b. Abt. 1799 in West Greenwich, R.I.    d. April 3, 1862 in Coventry, R.I.
d. May 13, 1879 in Greenville, R.I.
burial: Knight Lot (GL049), Knight Apple Orchard, West Greenville Rd., Glocester, R.I.
GPS coordinates: 41o 51' 57.46" N; 71o 34' 41.15" W

Curnel (also spelled Colonel) Knight was a Blacksmith in Washington Village in Coventry and later moved to Greenville,
R.I. due to poor health. His wife Betsey Wilcox died in Washington Village in 1862. See "Representative Men and Old
Families of Rhode Island," J.H. Beers & Co., Chicago 1908, page 1930.


children:

Louisa8 A. Knight (1819 - 1888)
Reuben8 Knight (Abt. 1824 - 1896)
Dorcas8 A. Knight (1824 - 1896)
***Nancy8 Holden Knight
Colonel8 Knight Jr. (1831 - 1907)
Angenette8 Knight (1840 - 1886)






The Knight Cemetery (GL049) in the old Knight Apple Orchard on West Greenville Road in Glocester, R.I.






Memorial to the Knight Family in the Knight Lot (GL049),
erected in 1902 probably by Colonel Knight Jr. and
Walter R.B. Knight.






Gravestone of Colonel Knight in the Knight Lot (GL049).






Gravestone of Betsey (Wilcox) Knight in the Knight Lot (GL049).





Louisa8 A. Knight (Curnel (Colonel)7, Reuben6, Jonathan5, Ensign Christopher4, Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. April 23, 1819 in Coventry, R.I.
d. January 14, 1888 in West Greenville, Glocester, R.I.
burial: Knight Lot (GL049), Knight Apple Orchard, West Greenville Rd., Glocester, R.I.
GPS coordinates: 41o 51' 57.46" N; 71o 34' 41.15" W

Louisa did not marry.






Gravestone of Louisa Knight in the Knight Lot (GL049).





Reuben8 Knight (Curnel (Colonel)7, Reuben6, Jonathan5, Ensign Christopher4, Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. Abt. 1824 in Coventry, R.I.
m. Abt. 1846 in Glocester, R.I.?   Sarah M. Knowlton   b. Abt. 1820 in Cumberland, R.I.   d. June 25, 1864 in Glocester, R.I.?
d. June 11, 1896 in West Greenville, Glocester, R.I.
burial: Knight Lot (GL049), Knight Apple Orchard, West Greenville Rd., Glocester, R.I.
GPS coordinates: 41o 51' 57.46" N; 71o 34' 41.15" W

Reuben worked as a factory hand, laborer, and teamster in the Greenville, R.I. area as a young man after moving from
Coventry, R.I. with his father. After his marriage, he moved to Johnston, R.I. and worked as a laborer and teamster. He
later purchased the Mann Farm in Glocester, R.I. along West Greenville Road (now known as the Knight Apple Farm,
which is owned and operated by descendants of Reuben), and he farmed and resided on his land the rest of his life. See
"Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island," J.H. Beers & Co., Chicago 1908, page 1663.


children:
William9 Henry Knight (1847 - 1920)
Louisa9 Knight (Abt. 1848 - 1891)
Mary9 D. Knight (1850 - 1865)
Elizabeth (Betsey)9 Knight (Abt. 1853 - ?)
Alzada9 K. Knight (1854 - 1940)
Reuben9 Knight Jr. (1856 - 1862)
Sarah9 M. Knight (1858? - 1936?)
George9 Washington Knight (1860 - 1899)
***Walter9 Reuben B. Knight (1862 - 1956)





Dorcas8 A. Knight (Curnel (Colonel)7, Reuben6, Jonathan5, Ensign Christopher4, Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. April 12, 1824 in Coventry, R.I.
m. ?   Peleg Brown   b. 1814    d. ? in West Greenwich, R.I.?
d. April 29, 1896 in Smithfield, R.I.
burial: Knight Lot (GL049), Knight Apple Orchard, West Greenville Rd., Glocester, R.I.
GPS coordinates: 41o 51' 57.46" N; 71o 34' 41.15" W


children:
unknown





Gravestone of Dorcas Knight in the Knight Lot (GL049).





***Nancy8 Holden Knight (Curnel (Colonel)7, Reuben6, Jonathan5, Ensign Christopher4, Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. Abt. 1827 in Coventry, R.I.
m1. Before 1850 in ?   George Nelson Young   b. Abt. August 1821   d. December 16, 1866 in Greenville, R.I.
m2. December 25, 1867 in Providence, R.I.   Amasa Hammond   b. Abt. March 1846 in Glocester, R.I.    d. September 2, 1898 in Glocester, R.I.
(Amasa served with Co. C and Co. K of the Third R.I. Heavy Artillery Regiment in the Civil War.)
d. March 14, 1909 in Smithfield, R.I.
burial: Smith Lot (SM049), Smith Ave., Greenville

Nancy did not have any children with Amasa.


children1:
Melissa9 Louise Young (1850 - 1865)
***Junia9 Young (1856 - 1889)






Gravestone of Nancy H. Knight in Smith Lot (SM049) in Greenville, R.I.





Colonel8 Knight Jr. (Curnel (Colonel)7, Reuben6, Jonathan5, Ensign Christopher4, Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. October 24, 1831 in Coventry, R.I.
m. ? in Danielson, Connecticut    Ellen Butler Daniels   b. March 24, 1834 in Newport, R.I.   d. July 10, 1911 in Smithfield, R.I.
d. July 6, 1907 in Stillwater, Smithfield, R.I.
burial: Swan Point Cemetery (PV003), Providence, R.I.

Colonel Knight Jr. moved to Greenville, R.I. with his father when he was 12 years old and worked as a farmer. He built a
house near Greenville, R.I. after his marriage and went into the charcoal dealing business. He also bought farm land and
worked the farm in addition to his charcoal business until 1898, when he gave up the business due to poor health. He moved
to Stillwater, R.I. in February 1905 to reside with his daughter Ellen Esther Knight and son-in-law Albert O. Smith.
See "Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island," J.H. Beers & Co., Chicago 1908, pages 1930-1931.


children1:
Stephen9 D. Knight (1854 - 1857)
***Ellen9 Esther Knight (1858 - 1942)





Angenette8 Knight (Curnel (Colonel)7, Reuben6, Jonathan5, Ensign Christopher4, Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. Abt. 1840 in Coventry, R.I.?
m. ?    John M. Cartwright   b. 1830 in New York?   d. December 15, 1915 in Greenville, R.I.?
d. April 3, 1886 in Greenville, R.I.
burial: Greenville Cemetery (SM045)
GPS Coordinates: 41o 52' 5.20" N; 71o 33' 23.93" W


children:
Alonzo9 Cartwright (? - ?)
Stephen9 B. Cartwright (1859 - 1940)
Betsey9 A. Cartwright (1862 - ?)





***Walter9 Reuben B. Knight (Reuben8, Curnel (Colonel)7, Reuben6, Jonathan5, Ensign Christopher4, Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. January 27, 1862 in Glocester, R.I.
m. July 26, 1888 in Glocester, R.I.?    Helena M. Stewart   b. 1867 in Newport, R.I.   d. 1955 in Glocester, R.I.
d. 1956 in Glocester, R.I.
burial: Knight Lot (GL049), Knight Apple Orchard, West Greenville Rd., Glocester
GPS coordinates: 41o 51' 57.46" N; 71o 34' 41.15" W

Walter worked as a farmer and as a teamster in Providence as a young man. He moved to Scituate, R.I. after his marriage
and worked on a rented farm for four years and entered the coal dealing business. He bought the Knight Farm from his
father Reuben in the Fall of 1895. He became the largest coal dealer in the Providence and Pawtucket markets. Walter
served on the Town Council of Glocester, R.I. from 1901 to 1905. He was a member of Temple Lodge, No. 18,
A.F. & A.M., in Greenville, R.I. See "Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island," J.H. Beers & Co.,
Chicago 1908, pages 1663-1664.


children:
Louisa10 Knight
***Alzada10 Knight (1890-1982)
Cora10 B. Knight
Walter10 Ruben D. Knight
Edwin10 Joseph Knight





***Ellen9 Esther Knight (Colonel Jr.8, Curnel (Colonel)7, Reuben6, Jonathan5, Ensign Christopher4, Richard3, Capt. Jonathan2, Richard1)
b. December 1858 in Greenville, R.I.
m1. Abt. 1880 in Smithfield, R.I.?    Thomas Frank Harris    b. May 7, 1857 in Smithfield, R.I.?    d. September 7, 1900 in Smithfield, R.I.?
m2. February 10, 1904 in Smithfield, R.I.    Albert Orman Smith    b. June 14, 1867 in Smithfield, R.I.    d. July 5, 1907 in Smithfield, R.I.
m3. Abt. 1910 in Providence, R.I.?    Thomas Arnold Briggs    b. January 19, 1857    d. September 24, 1928 in Providence, R.I.?
d. August 27, 1942 in Providence, R.I.
burial: Swan Point Cemetery (PV003), Providence, R.I.

Ellen had no children with her first two husbands. She married at about age 52 Thomas A. Briggs,
a wealthy owner of a Wire Manufacturing Co. in Providence, R.I. Ellen became a socialite in
Providence, R.I. and was active with several charitable organizations in Providence until her
death in 1942.

The following is a biography of Thomas A. Briggs from "History of the state of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations: Biographical" (New York: The American Historical Society, Inc. 1920):


p. 429 - 430:
"THOMAS ARNOLD BRIGGS -- To the record of a family line old and distinguished, Mr. Briggs has added a
chapter in industry and invention that reflects credit upon the family name. He is the president of the Boston Wire
Stitcher Company, of East Greenwich, and the inventor of several machines of widespread use in the printing industry,
including the wire-stitcher and automatic feeder, as well as a label making machine and a machine for attaching window
shades to rollers..........

(VIII) Thomas Arnold Briggs, son of Samuel Albert and Lucy Ann (Rice) Briggs, was born in Crompton, R. I.,
January 19, 1857. He was reared on a farm in Crompton, and until he was sixteen years of age attended the public
schools. Becoming employed in a drug store at Centerville, he remained there for three years, gaining an experience
in this line that led him, at the age of nineteen years, to establish an independent business. For two years he conducted
a drug store at Pepperell, Mass., at the end of this time selling the business to devote himself entirely to the work that
has since held him, invention and manufacturing. While proprietor of the store at Pepperell, he had perfected and
patented a label machine, and when the machine had been manufactured he established the Rhode Island Label Works
on Sabine street, Providence. This was a practical and highly successful invention and has been improved upon but little
since that time. Mr. Briggs disposed of his patent rights in his invention, which is used the world over.

At this time he built for the Carter-Crume Company, now the American Sales Book Company, several special type
high-speed machines for the printing and binding of their product, and installed them on a special agreement. These were
the first machines combining the numerous processes necessary in the manufacture of sales books, and were a pronounced
and unqualified success. With an assured income from this source, Mr. Briggs applied himself diligently to the perfection of
another of his inventions, the wire-stitching machine, and, with his work completed, he arranged for the marketing of the
machines through the American Type Founders' Company. At the same time he brought an automatic feeder for large
presses to practical and efficient form, but the expense involved in establishing the manufacture of his wire-stitcher
prevented his entering the feeder field. In 1900, Mr. Briggs organized the Boston Wire Stitcher Company, of which he is
president, purchased a plant in East Greenwich, R. I., and there began the manufacture of the machine. In addition to the
stitchers that figure as an important part of the equipment of every printing plant in the country, and the Boston Stitcher is
unexcelled in performance, the company manufactures a machine for securing the window shades to rollers, and various
machines and appliances for use in printing and allied trades. Inventor of the products manufactured in the East Greenwich
plant, and with a talent for mechanics that amounts to genius, Mr. Briggs, in the management of his plant and the solution of
perplexing business and industrial situations, has shown himself the able man-of-affairs as well, and the prosperity of
his company, based upon the work of his productive mind, is due in large measure to his strong guidance.

During the World War a machine gun cartridge belt, made of a paper and asphalt composition, was designed in the
Ordnance Department to replace the old and expensive belt in use up to that time. The old type of belt, costly in its first
manufacture, was loaded by a slow hand process, and was often reloaded many times on the field of battle. The advantages
of the new belt were to be speed of manufacture, speed of loading, low cost of production, and the ability to discard them
when firing had been completed. The design for the belt was turned over to Mr. Briggs by the war department with the
charge of designing the machines to realize these advantages. It is a tribute to his inventive genius and wide technical
knowledge that after a thorough study of the problems he and his associates produced a machine to manufacture the belt
and another to load it with three hundred shells, the entire operation completed in one minute. This machinery was made in
their factory and then shipped to the various ammunition plants throughout the country manufacturing machine gun belts and
shells. This is a notable example of the instant and effective response of the industrial genius of the country to any demand
made upon it, and Mr. Briggs, past the age for the firing line, ably improved this opportunity for service to the Allied cause.

In 1913, Mr. Briggs was elected to the Warwick Town Council, and was reelected in 1914, becoming president of that body,
but he resigned before the expiration of his term. He is interested in all that concerns the welfare of his town, and a
supporter of all movements of civic progress. He maintains a residence in Providence, and has a summer home in Florida.
His favorite recreations are golf and motoring, and he is fond of all out-of-door sports."






Picture of Thomas Arnold Briggs from Rootsweb/RI GenWeb website (https://sites.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/article206.html).
Picture originally from "History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical" (New York: The
American Historical Society, Inc. 1920).









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