Scanned and OCR'd directly from Windham in the Past by Samuel Thomas Dole, edited by Frederick Howard Dole, pp 458-461. This book was reprinted courtesy of the Windham Historical Society, and a copy can be obtained by writing to the Windham Historical Society, Windham, Maine. Please send corrections to Bob Anderson.
458 WINDHAM IN THE PAST
KNIGHT
John Akers Knight was the son of Moses and Hannah (Akers) Knight, who came to Falmouth, Me., from Newbury, Mass., about 1737. He was a direct descendant of John Knight, who came from Romsey, County of Hants, near Southampton, Eng., in the ship, James, in 1635, and settled in Newbury. He was a merchant tailor, and, so far as is now known, was the ancestor of all bearing the name in New England. John Akers Knight was born, about 1749, on what has since been known as the "Hart Place," near the present village of Allen's Corner, in the Deering District, that being the farm on which his father, Moses, first settled. He married, Apr. 16, 1778, Keziah, daughter of John and Sarah (Winslow) Morrill. She was born Nov. 19 1759, and died Jan. 16. 1821. John Akers Knight came to
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Windham in 1788 and settled on the farm now (1912) owned by his grandson, Albert M. Knight, near Manchester Hill, in the easterly part of the town. He built a log house, back from road, not far from where the present dwelling stands. This he built a few years later. He was by trade a brick-layer and had a brick yard on the banks of Pleasant River. He also built the first mill at Huston's Falls on the river, sometime before 1793. He died July 10, 1834, aged 85 years, and his remains are interred on the land which he cleared from the wilderness. He and his wife, Keziah, had eighteen children, but four of them died young and were not named or recorded on the family record. Those whose names appear are as follows:
Moses, son of John Akers and Keziah (Morrill) Knight, married, Sept. 18, 1823, Rebecca Knight. It was thought that they were not related but probably they distant connections.
- 1. Abigail, born Dec. 27, 1778; married Francis Jackson, Jan. 20, 1805.
- 2. Moses, born Feb. 27, 1780, died Apr. 30, 1780.
- 3. Levi, born Mar. 24, 1781; married, in 1804, Mary Kemp.
- 4. Hannah, born Oct. 7, 1782; married, first, Apr. 14, 1803, Stephen Morrill; second, Elvin Worth.
- 5. Samuel, born Feb. 20, 1785, died young.
- 6. Sarah, born Oct. 28, 1787; married, Sept. 9, 1807, Charles Doe.
- 7. Peter, born June 7, 1789; married, first, Aug. 8, 1816, Sally Elliott; second, in 1847, Ann H. King; moved to Illinois.
- 8. Peace, born Sept. 30, 1791; married, in 1808, Charles Doe, whose find wife was her sister, Sarah.
- 9. Hope, born Oct. 30, 1793, married Reuben Gardiner.
- 10. John, born Sept. 21, 1796. He went to Ohio, when about eighteen years old, and was never heard from.
- 11. Moses, born Jan. 1, 1798, married Rebecca Knight.
- 12. Samuel, born Aug. 24, 1800; died July 7, 1844; unmarried.
- 13. Thomas, born Sept. 24, 1802; died Feb. 18, 1876; unmarried.
- 14. Stephen, born Apr. 7, 1804; married, first, Eliza Doughty. She was born June 5, 1807, and died May 20, 1832. His second wife was Eliza Elkins, to whom he was married in May, 1834.
460 WINDHAM IN THE PAST
He lived and died in his father's house. She died Sept. 18 1878. He died May 29, 1887. Their children were:
- 1. Horace Greenlief, born Apr. 7, 1824, died Feb. 28, 1847.
- 2. Elizabeth Maxwell, born Apr. 29, 1828; married, May 26, 1850, Daniel Hamblet.
- 3. Aurilla Rosina, born Sept. 29, 1830; married, Feb. 26, 1851, Elvin Jackson, died Sept. 20, 1863.
- 4. Moses Gardiner, born July 25, 1834; married, Dec. 11, 1859, Loanna Stevens.
- 5. Olive Cushman, born Nov. 24, 1836, died unmarried, May 23, 1877.
- 6. Stephen Huston, born Aug. 7, 1839, died Sept. 9, 1839.
- 7. Albert Melvin, born July 28, 1844, married, Dec. 7, 1865, Clara, daughter of John Dole of Gray, Me.; lives on the old homestead; has two children:
- 1. Lizzie J.
- 2. Mabel L.
Jonathan Knight came from Otisfield to Windham, and married, Nov. 12, 1785, Sarah Pattangall. He was a farmer and settled on the Duck Pond Road, near the Knight, Schoolhouse. He died Nov. 19, 1837, aged 78 years. His wife, Sarah, died June 29, 1839, also aged 78. Their children were:
- 1. Peggy, born Apr. 5, 1787, in Otisfield; married Cornelius Allen of Windham.
- 2. John, born Dec. 15, 1788, in Otisfield.
- 3. Patience, ; born Sept. 20, 1792, in Windham, married Asa Small of Westbrook in 1826.
- 4. Daniel, born Mar. 26, 1795; married, in 1829, Sally Hussey
- 5. Katharine, born Oct. 7, 1797.
- 6. Anne, born July 19, 1802; married in 1832.
- 7. Mark, born about 1806.
Mark, son of Jonathan and Sarah (Pattangall) Knight, married, about 1839, Emily Hobbs. She died Jan. 25, 1887, and he died Dec. 24, 1892. He was a farmer and lived, at first, on the farm where his father settled; but he finally sold it and purchased a farm near Little Falls. He and his wife, Emily, had several children, but we have no connected record of the
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family. From dates on their gravestones, and also from our own memory, we are able to give the following facts:
- 1. Jonathan, died Sept. 24,1840, aged 3 months.
- 2. Mary, died Jan. 29, 1866, aged 22 years.
- 3. Rufus W., died May 19, 1856, aged 10 years.
- 4. Henry W., died May 6, 1856, aged 8 years.
- 5. Alfred, died Jan. 22, 1887; aged 34 years,
- 6. George T., died Sept. 10, 1911, born Oct. 29, 1850. He was a professor in Tufts College.
In addition to the above, they had a daughter, Sarah, of whom we can learn nothing.
There was another Mark Knight in Windham, known as "Quaker Mark." He was the son of Daniel and Patience Knight of Alfred, Me., and was born in that town, Nov. 3, 1803. He died Dec. 19, 1860. He married Mercy, daughter of David and Wait (Hawkes) Douglass. She was born Jan. 26, 1808, and died Aug. 13, 1854. He then married her sister, Mary, Feb. 29, 1856.
Children, all by first wife:
- 1. Mary Jane, born Aug. 2, 1828, died May 5, 1845.
- 2. Eunice, born June 15, 1830.
- 3. David D., born Oct. 15, 1831, died Apr. 20, 1845.
- 4. David D., born July 6, 1835, died Sept. 11, 1848.
© All copyrights remain with Samuel Thomas Dole, Frederick Howard Dole and the Windham Historical Society.
Note: The date of death of "3. David D." and birth of "4. David D." seem odd, perhaps a mistake. One would conjecture that the death of "3. David D." might be 1835 or before.