Knight (Newton) Company Muster Roll and Relief Bill, 1870-18... Z/2344.000/S
The Knight (Newton) Company Muster Roll and Relief Bill, 1870-1880, manuscript collection includes a muster roll, or roster, of the Knight Company that identifies the men who served with Newton Knight from their organization at Sal's Battery in Jones County, Mississippi, on October 13, 1863, until September 10, 1865. The roster identifies captains, lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, and privates by name. The muster roll and an accompanying list of battles fought by the Knight Company may have been written from memory as supporting evidence for Knight's first petition for compensation from the U.S. government in 1870. The collection also includes a copy of Senate Bill 1330, "A Bill For the relief of Newton Knight and others, citizens of Mississippi, therein named," which was introduced by Mississippi Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce on February 17, 1880, and referred to the Committee on Claims. On the back of the document is a March 2, 1880, letter addressed to Newton Knight that describes difficulties encountered by the author (whose initials and handwriting match those of Joel E. Welborn of Shubuta) convincing Bruce to introduce the bill and uncertainty of the bill's passage.
Newton Knight, born November 10 sometime between 1829 and 1840 (accounts differ) near the Leaf River in Jones County, Mississippi, was the son of Albert Knight (1799-1864) and Mary Mason Rainey Knight (1805-1868). He married Serena Turner in 1858 and became a yeoman farmer in Jasper County. They had nine children. During the Civil War, Newton deserted from the Confederate Army and in 1864 and 1865 staged a Unionist rebellion against the Confederacy that included Black and White residents of Jones County. Due in part to their exploits, the area was sometimes referred to as the "Free State of Jones." After the war, Knight lived with his ally, the formerly enslaved Rachel, with whom he had more children. Newton Knight died February 16, 1922, of natural causes, and was buried next to Rachel.
Read MoreThe Knight (Newton) Company Muster Roll and Relief Bill, 1870-1880, manuscript collection includes a muster roll, or roster, of the Knight Company that identifies the men who served with Newton Knight from their organization at Sal's Battery in Jones County, Mississippi, on October 13, 1863, until September 10, 1865. The roster identifies captains, lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, and privates by name. The muster roll and an accompanying list of battles fought by the Knight Company may have been written from memory as supporting evidence for Knight's first petition for compensation from the U.S. government in 1870. The collection also includes a copy of Senate Bill 1330, "A Bill For the relief of Newton Knight and others, citizens of Mississippi, therein named," which was introduced by Mississippi Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce on February 17, 1880, and referred to the Committee on Claims. On the back of the document is a March 2, 1880, letter addressed to Newton Knight that describes difficulties encountered by the author (whose initials and handwriting match those of Joel E. Welborn of Shubuta) convincing Bruce to introduce the bill and uncertainty of the bill's passage.
Newton Knight, born November 10 sometime between 1829 and 1840 (accounts differ) near the Leaf River in Jones County, Mississippi, was the son of Albert Knight (1799-1864) and Mary Mason Rainey Knight (1805-1868). He married Serena Turner in 1858 and became a yeoman farmer in Jasper County. They had nine children. During the Civil War, Newton deserted from the Confederate Army and in 1864 and 1865 staged a Unionist rebellion against the Confederacy that included Black and White residents of Jones County. Due in part to their exploits, the area was sometimes referred to as the "Free State of Jones." After the war, Knight lived with his ally, the formerly enslaved Rachel, with whom he had more children. Newton Knight died February 16, 1922, of natural causes, and was buried next to Rachel.
