My family has enjoyed going to the Knight family reunion for many years even though we knew very little about the history of the Knight family. When I began asking questions, I realized that my husband could not go farther back than to his grandparents, George and Rhoda Flynn Knight. He did not know how he was related to Plummer and Melissa Knight. He thought that they might have been cousins of George Knight?? So, my search began to find out how Plummer and Melissa Knight were related to my husband Doyle and our son Paul, and that search has grown into the information that I have today.

This information would not have been possible without the efforts and research done by the Oschola Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution that was published in the Bogalusa newspaper many years ago. It gave Charles Knight s birth as 1785 in Virginia; that he was in Bullock County, Georgia before coming to Washington Parish, Louisiana around 1810; that Charles married Susannah Williams circa 1820; and that she was the daughter of William "Choctaw Bill" Williams and Penelope Richardson, who was the daughter of Benjamin Richardson and Sarah Mizell, who was the daughter of Luke Mizell IV and Sarah Smithwick, who was the daughter of Samuel Smithwick and Mary Swain. Charles and Susannah were buried in Enon Cemetery. There were very few dates, but, it included the names of their children and some of their grandchildren. So, this one page of information, that is now yellowed and faded, laid the foundation and gave me a starting point.

My information about the Knight family of Washington Parish came from the Daughters of the American Revolution; information that Charles Knight gave on the Washington Parish Census records that he was born in Virginia; Charles Knight s pension application from the War of 1812, where he confirmed his age and told the exact date of his marriage to his wife Susan; Charles Knight s son James death certificate that tells that his father Charles was from Georgia. The informant for the death certificate was James Knight s son William Plummer Knight. William Plummer was 20 years old when his grandfather Charley died. Charles sons James, Calvin and George s and his daughter Mary "Polly s" husband s pension applications from the Civil War; Washington Parish newspaper articles; cemetery records; the Washington Parish libraries; Franklinton courthouse records; the Louisiana State Archives in Baton Rouge and contributions from Knight family members.

My search for Charles Knight s family in Georgia, led to our trip to Ivanhoe, Bulloch County, Georgia, where my husband, our son, Ray Knight, and I had the opportunity to meet Horace E. Knight who lives in Bulloch County, a descendent of Charles Knight s brother, Frances Alexander. He showed us some of the Knight family cemeteries, which I have included pictures, and told us a little about the history of them. We found much more information about the family in the genealogy section of the Macon and Statesboro, Georgia libraries and the Bulloch County Courthouse in Statesboro, Georgia, land records and from a very good book entitled Spirit of the People, published by the Statesboro Herold, in celebration of Bolloch County s 200^th birthday in 1996. All Georgia researchers agreed that Joseph had a son named Charles, but no one knew anything about Charles. Charles left Georgia before acquiring land or getting married, leaving few clues to trace him.

The most convincing evidence that I have found to provide proof that Charles Knight s father Joseph was the son of John Knight and Elizabeth Woodson was that both John Knight, who moved from Edgecombe County, North Carolina, and Joseph Knight moved to tiny little Effingham County, that became Bulloch County in 1796, about the same time, circa 1788. They were near the same age. John s son, William Anderson married Sarah Cone, daughter of William Cone, and Joseph was married to Jerusha Cone. The Cone s were also from North Carolina. Sarah s father, William Cone, was one of the early settlers of Ivanhoe, Bulloch County. Both of the Knight families and the Cones were Baptist. Many researchers agree that John Knight was indeed the son of John and Elizabeth Woodson Knight. Also, all Georgia sources that I found agreed that Joseph was the son of a John Knight. I found two sources in the Statesboro library. Gladys Meeks Vindal lists John as Joseph s father; and a letter from Adair, Kent, Ashby & McNatt to Clerk of Superior Court, Columbia County, Georgia was seeking information about Joseph s father John. Bill Abram, who has done extensive research on the family, had John as his father.

John and Elizabeth Woodson were from Virginia. John and Elizabeth moved their family to Granville County, North Carolina, later to become Edgecombe County, about 1750. They moved back to Lunenburg County before John wrote his will 7 Sept 1771. His sons, Joseph, Charles and Peter were the executors of his will. He probably chose them because they were his sons who moved back to Virginia. The last record that I found for Joseph in Virginia was for land taxes in 1787. John was one of John and Elizabeth s children who remained in Edgecombe County until he moved to Bulloch County, Georgia about 1788. I believe that the chance that these two Knight men who lived in Bulloch County, Georgia in the late 1700 s are related to each other is very likely.

Although, I have tried my best to provide only correct information by using as many different and reliable sources as possible, you may find some errors in my work.

Marion Carroll

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