My Genealogy Hound

Thomas McKnight, farmer and stock raiser, was born in Lawrence County, Ark., March 23, 1823, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Dillingham) McKnight, and grandson of William McKnight, who was from North Carolina, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He afterward came to Kentucky, in the early history of that State, and in 1818 came to Arkansas. John McKnight, the father, was born in North Carolina, and came to Arkansas with his father, and became a representative farmer of Lawrence County. He died in 1858, and his wife in 1832. They were the parents of eight children, two of whom are living. After the mother’s death the father married a Mrs. Underwood, by whom he had four children. Thomas McKnight made his father’s house his home until fifteen years of age, and then began working on a farm in Washington County. In 1846 he enlisted in the Mexican War, serving until its close, when he returned home and resumed farming. In 1848 he married Miss Elizabeth Bloyd, who was born on the farm where they now reside, and to their union eleven children were born, seven now living: William G., Elizabeth (wife of William H. Brown), Mary (wife of James Carter), James W., Henry T., Martha (wife of James Gilbreath), and Ollie (wife of Thomas Carter). In 1883 Mr. McKnight laid out the town of West Fork, and has been one of the active men in building up the place. In 1862 be enlisted in Company A, First Arkansas Cavalry, and after serving one year was discharged on account of disability, and after returning home, although sick and unable to work, was continually annoyed by the bushwhackers. He is a member of the Rutherford Post No. 11, G. A. R., and is a member of the Knights of the Horse. He and wife belong to the Christian Church.