Husband Col. Amor Archer McKnight 1 2
Born: 19 May 1832 - Blairsville, Indiana Co, PA 1 3
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Died: 3 May 1863 4
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Father: Alexander McKnight, Esq. (1810-1837) 1 5 6 7
Mother: Mary Thompson (Abt 1811-1860) 1 7 8
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General Notes: Husband - Col. Amor Archer McKnight
He was born in Blairsville, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. In November, 1832, he was brought by his parents to Brookville, Jefferson County, and in June, 1837, his father died. While a little boy he worked on the turnpike. At an early age he returned to Blairsville and learned the art of printing in the Appalachian office, and afterwards worked for Mr. Samuel McElhose on the Jefferson Star, of Brookville, Jefferson County. In 1853 he was admitted to the bar, and entered into partnership with George W. Andrews, Esq., and at once secured a good practice. He had a strong predilection for military matters, and from 1854 until the breaking out of the Civil war he was captain of a military company called the "Brookville Rifles." Long before the actual storm burst he felt that trouble was at hand, and as early as the winter of 1860 commenced to recruit his company so as to be ready when the emergency might arise. When the news of the firing upon Sumter reached him he at once offered the services of his company, and as captain of Company I, 8th Pennsylvania Regiment, served three months. As soon as that term of service had expired he recruited the 105th Pennsylvania Regiment, a regiment that had no superior in drill, discipline and manual of the bayonet in the Civil war. A rigid disciplinarian, he made his command one whose fame was known throughout the Army of the Potomac. He was an intrepid, daring soldier, winning the praise of his superior officers, and fell May 3, 1863, at the head of his gallant veterans in the battle of Chancellorsville while leading them against the command of Stonewall Jackson, who had fallen only a few hours before.
Amor Archer McKnight at an early age evinced a deep love for study, and proved an apt and diligent student in the common schools and the Brookville Academy, obtaining a good average education. He was a close, careful reader, and when quite young gathered together, as his means would permit, a collection of books which in after years proved the nucleus of an excellent and extensive library. The death of his father when he was so very young made him the main support of his mother and her little family, and the loving care he gave that mother as long as she lived was one of his pleasant duties.
The late Mr. Samuel McElhose, who was editor of the Star, in his notice of Colonel McKnight's death said of him: "He was an excellent workman; what he found to do he did with all his might." The practical and general knowledge he gained in the printing office, he admitted in after years, had been of incalculable benefit to him. On leaving the Star office he entered the law office of W. P. Jenks, Esq., where he applied himself to the study of law half of each day; the balance of the time he had to work at the "case" in the printing office, as a means of support. At the February term, 1855, he was admitted to practice, and soon afterwards entered into partnership with G. W. Andrews, Esq. Their firm was one of the most successful and had as large a practice as any at the Brookville bar. When the first alarm of war sounded forth he was one of the first to enlist in defense of his country. The court of Jefferson county appointed R. Arthurs, W. P. Jenks, G. W. Andrews, A. L. Gordon and D. Barclay, Esqs., to report resolutions upon the death of Colonel McKnight, when he fell at Chancellorsville, one of which reads as follows:
"Resolved, That whether regarded as a soldier, patriot, citizen, friend, brother, or protector of his aged parent, Colonel McKnight was true to duty. By his death our country has lost one of its brightest ornaments, the legal profession a well-informed, trustworthy and honorable member."
Again, on May 27th, the Star said: "He cared most tenderly and affectionately for his mother. He mourned in deep sorrow over her death, and gave the most convincing proofs of the great nobleness of his heart. No man is without his faults, and of course he had his, but one trait we cannot overlook, and that was his perfect abstinence from gambling and intemperance. He spent his earnings for standard books, and his spare time in perusing them. He was laborious and studious. He was fearless and outspoken, generous and obliging, he was an ardent admirer of the free institutions of his native land, of the right of man to self government, and loathed the institution of human slavery. His career on earth is ended. He has sealed his love of country with his life's blood."
Colonel McKnight never married. At the time of his death a commission for general was on President Lincoln's desk. At his death Colonel McKnight was thirty years, eleven months, fifteen days old. [HJC 1917 II, 66]