Key Facts

Snapshot:	moved from either Virginia or North Carolina to Georgia; wife of a plantation owner; slave owner
Parents:	unknown
Born:	circa 1770 either Virginia or North Carolina
Died:	September 1859 Washington County, Georgia
Buried:	unknown

129Sarah ___ was born circa 1770,1,2 but where is less certain: Was it Virginia (according to one record made while 129Sarah was still alive1), or North Carolina (according to two records made after her death2,3)?

129Sarah married 128Sylvanus Knight probably around 1794, as explained previously. For more information about their marriage, their lives together, etc., see his profile since that information won't be repeated here.

After her husband's death in 1843, 129Sarah lived another 16 years as a widow. The 1848 tax digest shows 129Sarah still in possession of all 456 acres that her husband owned when he died, plus eight of the slaves.4

1848: Now a widow, 129Sarah retains most of her husband's property.4

By the next year (1849), though, she had disposed of all the land and all but one slave.5

1849: 129Sarah in militia district 95 (map), Washington County, Georgia.
129Sarah had recently disposed of all but one slave.5

The 1850 census shows 129Sarah living with her son Allen.1

1850: 129Sarah living with her son Allen's family in Washington County, Georgia. Full page.1

From the mortality schedule of the 1860 census we see that 129Sarah had died in September 1859 from "old age" after an illness that lasted three years. The schedule reports that she was 90 years old.2

1860: 129Sarah's death noted in the census' mortality schedule. Full page.2

Her obituary was published a few weeks later.3

1859: 129Sarah's obituary. Full page.3

As explained previously, 129Sarah was a founding member of Antioch Baptist Church in Washington County, so one would expect her to be buried in its cemetery, but sadly no such grave seems to exist. Perhaps she was buried in an unmarked grave, or perhaps her tombstone had been ruined or overgrown by the time the cemetery's graves were transcribed circa 1967.6

Sources Cited:

1: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Division 91, Washington County, Georgia. Page 214B, dwelling 162, family 162, Allen H. Knight household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 87. Ancestry.com, accessed 13 August 2011. I used Ancestry.com, but the census image is also available on Archive.org: <http://archive.org/stream/7thcensus0067unix#page/n285/mode/1up>.

2: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Mortality Schedule). Washington County, Georgia. Page 717, Sarah Knight. NARA microfilm publication T655, roll 8. Ancestry.com ("U.S., Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885" / 1860 / Georgia / Washington / image 3 of 6), accessed 25 October 2021.

3: “OBITUARY,” The Central Georgian (Sandersville, Georgia), 26 October 1859, page 3, column 1, top of the page. Georgia Historic Newspapers, <https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034105/1859-10-26/ed-1/seq-3/>

4: Washington County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1848, Captain Curry's district, page 12, entry for Sarah Knight. Ancestry.com (“Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Washington / 1848 / images 26 and 27 of 143), accessed 25 October 2021. The same record is also available on FamilySearch: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-7CN3?i=414&cc=4130006&cat=307097>.

5: Washington County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1849, 95th district, page 11, entry for Sarah Knight. Ancestry.com (“Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892” / Washington / 1849 / images 22 and 23 of 137), accessed 25 October 2021. The same record is also available on FamilySearch: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-789J?i=499&cc=4130006&cat=307097>.

6: Elizabeth Pritchard Newsom, Washington County, Georgia, Tombstone Inscriptions (published by the author, 110 West First Avenue, Sandersville, Georgia in 1967), pages 1-2 ("Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery [Transcribed by Elizabeth & Jesse Newsom]").