James Knight

  General Notes:

The email below gives the parents of Demsey Knight:
Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2009
From: Tom Knight <tom@wakousa.com>
Subject: RE: Knight Family Update
To: "'L. Bolling Hagen'" <lhagen@vt.edu>
Dear Bo,
Thanks so much for writing back because it seems that the Daughtrey family's experience with the Whaleyville patriarch runs parallel with mine. You see, my Aunt Betty vividly remembers her Aunt Ruth laying into my grandmother Ruby - literally accusing her of my grandfather's death. The fact is Dr. Knight's body was riddled with cancer mostly likely brought on by a lifetime of smoking and exposure to ionizing radiation (he was one of the first MD researchers at MCV during the development of a new diagnostic tool known as "x-ray"). What is interesting is that T.O. Knight Sr. disapproved of Ruth's choice of husband. This was most certainly the case with my grandfather who married a "lowly" stenographer" from Charlottesville he met while attending UVa. So much so, in fact, that my grandfather was cut off from funds he needed to complete medical school. My grandmother and the US Army picked up the tab and my grandfather was sent to Europe during WW II as a field surgeon. As you say, the rest is history but the pieces of the puzzle are still waiting to be put back together.
I have a cousin, Ellen, from the Horace Burton (or maybe Uncle Frank '96 I can't recall) branch living here in Richmond. I heard that Tommy Daughtrey was living in Richmond but may have passed a while back (but I'm not sure which Tommy Daughtrey 1^st or 2^nd). Maybe it's time to stop feeling sorry for my side of the family and reach out to the cousins I've never met. It seems as though Ruth and her husband suffered the same disapproval that my grandparents experienced. Thanks for the information, Bo, I am greatly indebted to you and I think your website is awesome! By the way, Dempsey's parents were James and Rachel Knight. I have a transcript of his will listing all family and holdings (including a large tract of land straddling the Gates and Nansemond county line) somewhere in the house. Let me dig that out and forward it to you. And if you still have any contact with the Daughtrey side please feel free to pass along my contact information.
Sincerely,
Your Cousin - Tommy Knight
By the way, my youngest son, Tristan Oliver, was born in Salem, VA while I worked for Westvaco in Covington. Salem and the Roanoke area are nice but Covington stinks '96 LITERALLY! It's good to be back in Richmond.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thomas Knight
Process Engineer
Wako Chemicals USA, Inc.
1600 Bellwood Road
Richmond, Virginia 23237
804.672.4658

  Research Notes:

The 1790 Federal Census for Gates Co., North Carolina records James Knight as head of household with
1 Free White Male - 16 and over
2 Free White Males - under 16
4 Free White Females
Number of Slaves : 6
Number of Household Members: 13

The 1800 Federal Census for Gates Co., North Carolina records James Knight as head of household with
1 Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over
1 Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25
1 Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44
1 Free White Persons - Females - Under 10
Number of Slaves: 16
Number of Household Members Under 16: 1
Number of Household Members Over 25: 2
Number of Household Members: 20

James married Rachael. (Rachael was born circa 1760 in North Carolina and died circa 1825 in Gates Co., N.C..)