Washington Co., AR - Biographies - Thomas Mcknight

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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 he 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.