Joseph Knight, Sr.

Wikipedia Biographical Summary

"...Joseph Knight, Sr. (November 26, 1772 – February 2, 1847) was a close associate of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and provided significant material support to Smith's translation and publication of the Book of Mormon.

Knight was born in Oakham, Massachusetts. In 1795 he married Polly Peck. By 1800 they were living in Vermont. They moved to Colesville, New York in 1808..."

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Knight,_Sr.

Notes:

"...Knight, Joseph, Sr. Son of Benjamin and Hannah Knight. Born 26 November 1772 at Oakham, Worcester County, Massachusetts. Married Polly Peck by 1796. Seven children: Nahum, Esther, Newel, Anna, Joseph, Polly, and Elizabeth. Moved to Bainbridge, New York, 1809. Two years later moved to Colesville, Broome County, New York; remained for nineteen years. Owned farm, gristmill, and carding machine. Baptized 29 June 1830. Family formed nucleus of small branch of Church in Colesville. Moved to Kirtland, Ohio, 1831. Left Ohio for Jackson County, Missouri, June 1831. Resided in Jackson, Clay, and Caldwell counties in Missouri. Located in Nauvoo 1839. Received house and lot donated by high council of Nauvoo. Ordained priest 18 March 1841. Received endowment in Nauvoo Temple 13 December 1845; sealed to dead wife, Polly, 2 February 1846. Sealed to Phebe Crosby (born 1800 in New York) 2 February 1846. Died 3 February 1847 at Mt. Pisgah, Harrison County, Iowa, during Mormon exodus from Illinois..."

SOURCE: http://byustudies.byu.edu/Resources/BioAlpha/MBRegisterK.aspx

Biographical Summary:

Along with his second wife, and thirteen children, he established a sawmill in Colesville, New York. In late 1826, Joseph Smith Jr. became a hired hand, doing farm work and at the sawmill. Young Smith told the Knight family he had seen a vision of God the Father and the Son six years earlier near Palmyra, N.Y. He also told them about the Gold Plates he was preparing to receive.

The Knights were impressed with Young Joseph's story. Mr. Knight was also instrumental in Joseph Smith's courtship with Emma Hale. "I paid him the money and furnished him with a horse and cutter [sled] to go and see his girl." The Prophet even used Knight's wagon to retrieve the plates.

By early 1828, Joseph and Emma Smith had moved to Emma's father's property, about 30 miles from the Knights. Smith found it impossible to both earn a living and translate the plates. The Smiths asked Mr. Knight for help. The Knight's were not wealthy, but Father Knight gave the Prophet as much as he could, and gave them money to buy paper for the translation. When The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, one-third of the 60 people in attendance were Knight relatives. There are even seven revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants mentioning the Knights and their role in the Church.

Between 1831 and 1846, the Knight clan helped to pioneer 10 Church settlements in Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and Nebraska. Joseph Knight Sr. headed west with the Church in 1846, but died in Iowa Feb. 3, 1847, before reaching Utah. He was 74.

SOURCE: Unknown

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The Knight, Joseph Sr. Histroy.

Official Church History.

Birth: Knight, Joseph Sr. Date: November 3, 1772 Place: Oakham, Worcester, MA, USA Alternate Date: November 26, 1772

Parents: Knight, Joseph Sr. Father: Knight, Benjamin Mother: ____________, Hannah

Death: Knight, Joseph Sr. Date: February 3, 1847 Place: Mt. Pisgah, Harrison, IA, USA

Marriage Information: Knight, Joseph Sr. Spouse: Peck, Phebe (Polly) Date: 1795 Alternate Date: 1796

Children: Knight, Joseph Sr.

Name: Birthdate: Place:

1. Knight, Nahum July 2, 1796 Marlboro, Windham, VT, USA

2. Knight, Esther April 25, 1798 Marlboro, Windham, VT, USA

3. Knight, Newel September 13, 1800 Marlboro, Windham, VT, USA

4. Knight, Anna March 6, 1804 Halifax, Windham, VT, USA

5. Knight, Joseph June 21, 1808 Halifax, Windham, VT, USA

6. Knight, Polly March 7, 1811 Halifax, Windham, VT, USA

7. Knight, Elizabeth July 22, 1817 Colesville, Broome, NY, USA

Church Ordinance Data: Knight, Joseph Sr. Baptism Date: June 28, 1830 Officiator: Oliver Cowdery

    Baptism   Date: June 29, 1830

Ordained Priest Date: March 18, 1841
Temple Ordinance Data: Knight, Joseph Sr. Endowment Date: December 13, 1845 Temple: Nauvoo, Hancock, IL, USA

    Sealed to Parents   Date: May 16, 1944

Sealed to Spouse Number 1 Date: February 2, 1846 Temple: Nauvoo, Hancock, IL, USA
Places of Residence: Knight, Joseph Sr.

               Kirtland, Geauga, OH, USA; 1831

New York, USA
Clay to Caldwell, MO, USA
Jackson, MO, USA; July 1831
Colesville, NY, USA; 1829
Bainbridge, NY, USA; 1809
Nauvoo, Hancock, IL, USA; 1839
A descendent of John Knight of Newbury, cousin of our John who settled in Charlestown, MA has twice visited the ancestral town of Romsey, England. He has kindly contriubted photos which will be placed on the "Photo Gallery" page for all of us to view. He descibed Romsey as a "picture post card" town, that is a charming English village begun in 907 A.D. by the son of Alfred The Great. It is centered around the Romsey Abbey that dates back to 1120 A.D. at the time of Edward I, and his Saxon princes called "Good Queen Maud." King Henry VIII marked the abbey for destruction when he broke with Rome to form the Church of England. In order to save it, four men of the village raised 100 pounds to buy it for the community. One of those four was John Knight. In 1635 and 1655 the mayor of the town was William Knight. The town figured strategically in the English civil war and fought on the side of the Parliamentary forces as most of the citizens were "non-comformists" or protestant in religious matters. This information comes from Howard Cassada who lives in Amarillo, Texas. We are all vert gratefull to him for his kindness.

WHO ARE WE? We are the descendants of these two New Englanders who were the product of English immigrants seeking religious freedom in the 1630's. Their children and descendants continued this search and became pioneers on the American frontier who journeyed to the west to make their homes. We are the recipients of their heritage of courage, determination and faith. This page has been created to honor them and to acquaint each generation about their roots and legacy. The features of this page (at left) will allow readers to learn more.

Historical Background:

Several Knights & Pecks joined the "Great Migration" of Puritans and Pilgrims who reached New England in 1635 and 1638. Joseph Knight’s Puritan ancestor was Englishman John Knight, Sr., who arrived in Boston Bay in 1635 and who lived in Sudbury, Woburn, Watertown before settling in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The line from immigrant John to Joseph Knight, Sr.included: John and Mary Bridge Knight; Samuel and Rachel Chase Knight; Samuel and Anna Eames Knight; Benjamin and Sarah Crouch Knight.

Joseph married Polly Peck about 1795. Her ancestors came from Pilgrim immigrants who also immigrated in 1638 to help settle in the original Plymouth Colony. Her line includes, Nicholas and Rebekah Bosworth Peck; Hezekiah and Deborah Cooper Peck, Hezekiah, Jr., and Capt. Joseph and Elizabeth Read Peck, her parents.

They raised a large family of strong independent and courageous children: Nahum, Esther, Newel, Anna, Joseph Jr., Polly, and Elizabeth. Joseph Sr., would later marry Phoebe Crosby Peck and add Ether and Charles C. to his family. This family migrated through western Massachusetts into Vermont and later to Western New York. There they congregated around Colesville in Broome County where they were introduced to Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Almost the entire family found spiritual roots and joined the Church. They later left their beautiful New York estate and followed the Prophet Joseph Smith to Ohio, Missouri and Illinois as persecution pushed them ever westward. In Nauvoo, Illinois they thought they found a home, but were forced to leave in 1846 and joined the great migration more than 1000 miles to Utah. Father Knight and Newel perished on the plains, but those who survived were the patriarchs of a vast army of descendants who dotted the western states and who now cover the earth.

Knight, Joseph, one of the earliest members of the Church, was an American by birth, though the exact place and date of birth is not known. He was well advanced in years when the work of the Lord in these last days began to come forth. From the journal of his son, Newel Knight, it is learned that Joseph Knight, sen., married Polly Peck; that he moved into the State of New York in 1809, and settled on the Susquehanna river, near the Great Bend, in the township of Bainbridge, Chenango county. Two years later he moved to Colesville, Broome county, N. Y., where he remained nineteen years. "My father," says Newel Knight in his journal, "owned a farm, a grist mill and carding machine. He was not rich, yet he possessed enough of this world's goods to secure to himself and family, not only the necessities, but also the comforts of life. His family, consisting of my mother, three sons, and four daughters, he reared in a genteel and respectable manner and gave his children a good common school education. My father was a sober, honest man, generally respected and beloved by his neighbors and acquaintances. He did not belong to any religious sect, but was a believer in the Universalian doctrine." The business in which Joseph Knight, sen., engaged made it necessary at times for him to hire men, and the Prophet Joseph was occasionally employed by him. To the Knight family, who were greatly attached to him, the young Prophet related many of the things God had revealed respecting the Book of Mormon, then as yet to come forth. So far at least was the elder Knight taken into the Prophet's confidence that he purposely so arranged his affairs as to be at the Smith family residence near Manchester, at the time the plates of the Book of Mormon were given into Josesph's possession. Mr. Knight had driven to the Smith residence with a horse and carriage, and in this conveyance, according to the statement of both Lucy Smith, mother of the Prophet (see Lucy Smith's History of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Chapter 23), and Josesph Knight, sen., Joseph in company with his wife Emma drove away very early before daylight on the morning of Sept. 22nd, 1827 it is presumed, of course, the Prophet drove to the hill Cumorah and there received from Moroni the plates of the Book of Mormon, etc. Mr. Knight remained at the Smith residence at Manchester, several days and was there the day Josesph brought home the plates, and in company with Joseph Smith, sen., and Mr. Stoal who was also present at the Smith residence in company with Mr. Knight—went in search of those men who had assailed the Prophet while on his way home with the plates, but they did not find them. Joseph Smith in his history of Aug. 22, 1842, refers to Joseph Knight in the following endearing terms: "I am now recording in the Book of the Law of the Lord, of such as have stood by me every hour of peril, for these fifteen long years past—say, for instance, my aged and beloved brother, Joseph Knight, sen., who was among the number of the first to administer to my necessities, while I was laboring in the commencement of the bringing forth of the work of the Lord and of laying the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For fifteen years he has been faithful and true, and even-handed, and exemplary, and virtuous, and kind, never deviating to the right hand or to the left. Behold he is a righteous man; may God Almighty lengthen out the old man's days; and may his trembling, tortured and broken body be renewed and the vigor of health turn upon him, if it can be Thy will, consistently, O God; and it shall be said of him by the sons of Zion, while there is one of them remaining, that this man was a faithful man in Israel, therefore his name shall never be forgotten. There are his sons, Newel Knight and Joseph Knight, jun., whose names I record in the Book of the Law of the Lord with unspeakable delight, for they are my friends."

In June 1830, Joseph visited the Joseph Knight family in Colesville. On Saturday they had constructed a dam across a stream in preparation for baptisms, but it was destroyed by a mob. After Sunday meetings, the following events took place:

Early on Monday morning, in April 1830, we were on the alert, and before our enemies were aware of our proceedings, we had repaired the dam, and the following thirteen persons baptized, by Oliver Cowdery; viz., Emma Smith, Hezekiah Peck and wife, Joseph Knight, Sen., and wife, William Stringham and wife, Joseph Knight, Jun., Aaron Culver and wife, Levi Hale, Polly Knight, and Julia Stringham.

Before the baptizing was entirely finished, the mob began again to collect and shortly after we had retired, they amounted to about fifty men. They surrounded the house of Mr. Knight whither we had retired--raging with anger, and apparently determined to commit violence upon us. Some asked us questions, others threatened us, so that we thought it wisdom to leave and go to the house of Newel Knight. There also they followed us, and it was only by the exercise of great prudence on our part, and reliance in our heavenly Father, that they were kept from laying violent hands upon us; and so long as they chose to stay, we were obliged to answer them various unprofitable questions, and bear with insults and threatenings without number. We had appointed a meeting for this evening, for the purpose of attending to the confirmation of those who had been the same morning baptized. The time appointed had arrived and our friends had nearly all collected together, when to my surprise, I was visited by a constable, and arrested by him on a warrant, on the charge of being a disorderly person, of setting the country in an uproar by preaching the Book of Mormon, etc. The constable informed me, soon after I had been arrested, that the plan of those who had got out the warrant was to get me into the hands of the mob, who were now lying in ambush for me; but that he was determined to save me from them, as he had found me to be a different sort of person from what I had been represented to him. I soon found that he had told me the truth in this matter, for not far from Mr. Knight's house, the wagon in which we had set out was surrounded by a mob, who seemed only to await some signal from the constable; but to their great disappointment, he gave the horse the whip, and drove me out of their reach. Whilst driving in great haste one of the wagon wheels came off, which left us once more very nearly surrounded by them, as they had come on in close pursuit. However, we managed to replace the wheel and again left them behind us. He drove on to the town of South Bainbridge, Chenango county, where he lodged me for the time being in an upper room of a tavern; and in order that all might be right with himself and with me also, he slept during the night with his feet against the door, and a loaded musket by his side, whilst I occupied a bed which was in the room; he having declared that if we were interrupted unlawfully, he would fight for me, and defend me as far as it was in his power.

Joseph Knight Sr.

Birth: 3 November 1772, Oakham, Worcester County, Massachusetts. Son of Benjamin and Hannah Knight. Death: 2 February 1847, Mount Pisgah, Harrison County, Iowa.

In 1808 Joseph Knight Sr. and his family moved to Bainbridge, New York, and two years later to Colesville, New York, where they resided for nineteen years. Father Knight, as Joseph was affectionately known by the Saints, purchased a farm on the Susquehanna River and built a gristmill. Biographer William G. Hartley wrote that he was "not rich, yet he possessed enough of this world's goods to secure to himself and family, not only the necessaries, but also the comforts of life." His religious orientation was the Universalist doctrine.

Father Knight first became acquainted with Joseph Smith in 1826. While lodging at the Knight home Joseph spoke of his glorious visitations. "My father and I believed him," wrote Joseph Knight Jr., "and I think we were the first to do so, after his own family. " When Joseph Smith obtained the Book of Mormon plates, he used Father Knight's horse and carriage as his means of conveyance.

Joseph Knight wrote of assisting the young prophet on another occasion: "I let him have some little provisions and some few things out of the store, a pair of shoes, and three dollars in money to help him a little." He also wrote, "I gave … Joseph a little money to buy paper to translate." Joseph Smith praised Father Knight for his donations that "enabled us to continue the work when otherwise we must have relinquished it for a season."

As others sought baptism into the Church, Father Knight hesitated: "I had some thots to go forrod, But I had not red the Book of Mormon and I wanted to [examine] a little more I Being aRestorationar and had not [examined] so much as I wanted to.

" Aware of his hesitation, the Prophet Joseph prayed for him and received a revelation in April 1830: "Joseph Knight, … you must take up your cross, in the which you must pray vocally before the world as well as in secret. It is your duty to unite with the true church, and give your language to exhortation continually." (D&C 23:6–7.)

In obedience Father Knight was baptized on 28 June 1830 by Oliver Cowdery. Soon after his baptism religious persecution was directed against him. Rather than deny his new faith Father Knight left New York and settled with others from Colesville in the small Ohio community of Thompson. "We all went to work and made fence and planted and sowed the fields," wrote Father Knight. His stay in Thompson was brief: "We was Commanded to take up our Jorney to the Regions westward to the Boarders of the Lamanites."

He moved with the Saints to Jackson County, Missouri, in 1831. There the Knight family suffered from poverty. According to William G. Hartley, "A stranger staring at them would not see in them the prosperous Yankees they had once been in New York before embracing Mormonism.

In 1839 the Knight family settled in Nauvoo. There Father Knight was feeble and unable to work. His son Newel wrote, "My father, as my own family, depended on me for bread and the necessities of life." He added, "It was a pleasure to me to supply his wants and add to his comforts." Aware of his faithfulness and poor health, the high council donated a house and lot to him. One day the Prophet Joseph saw his elderly friend hobbling along without a cane. The Prophet approached him and, putting his arm around him, pressed Father Knight's fingers onto the top of his cane and said, "Brother Knight, you need this cane more than I do." The Prophet then told him to keep it as long as he needed it, and then to pass it on to descendants with the first name Joseph. The cane has been passed down through several descendants until the present day.

On 22 January 1842 the Prophet Joseph wrote a tribute to Joseph Knight:

Joseph Knight … was among the number of the first to administer to my necessities.… For fifteen years he has been faithful and true, and even-handed and exemplary, and virtuous and kind, never deviating to the right hand or to the left. Behold he is a righteous man, may God Almighty lengthen out the old man's days; and may his trembling,tortured, and broken body be renewed, … and it shall be said of him, by the sons of Zion, while there is one of them remaining, that this man was a faithful man in Israel; therefore his name shall never be forgotten.

Father Knight left Nauvoo and, with the aid of his son Joseph Knight Jr., gathered with the poor in Mount Pisgah, Iowa. Father Knight died in February 1847 at Mount Pisgah at the age of seventy-four.

Source: JOSEPH & POLLY KNIGHT FAMILY ORGANIZATION, by Darrell Knight