Key Facts

Snapshot:	farm laborer; may have fought in the American Civil War
Parents:	64Jesse B. Knight mother uncertain
Born:	circa 1829 Georgia
Last known record:	1886 tax digest Militia district 1345 (map), Washington County, Georgia
Buried:	unknown

32Russell Knight was born circa 1829 in Georgia. His father was 64Jesse B. Knight, as apparent from the 1850 census (shown below).1 1850 and 1851 tax digests clarify that 32Russell's family was living in militia district 92 (map).2,3 (You may find it interesting that this 1850 census also shows 32Russell's younger brother 34John, who was only one year old at the time. Many years later 32Russell's son 16George married 34John's daughter 17Alice; this is one of only two known instances of cousin marriage among my ancestors.)

1850: 32Russell's family in Washington County, Georgia. Full page.1

Sadly, the identity of 32Russell's mother is somewhat less certain, as explained below.

Problem: Unresolved Who is 32Russell Knight's mother? The 1850 census1 certainly suggests that 64Jesse and Martha are married, but I have found no record to indicate when they married. One could hypothesize that 64Jesse may have had another wife before Martha and that this hypothetical earlier wife gave birth to some of 64Jesse's children. Notice the relatively long gaps between the births of William, Eliza, and Jane. These gaps may simply be due to child mortality or an age-related decrease in fertility, but one could also suggest that the gaps are caused by 64Jesse's taking time to find a new wife (i.e., Martha) after his (hypothetical) earlier wife died. To be clear: I very strongly suspect that Martha is 32Russell's mother. However, because there is no conclusive evidence to prove so, and because there is plausible doubt, I cannot make such a conclusion, and I haven't assigned Martha an ahnentafel number.

32Russell married 33Elizabeth Price on 26 March 1856.4

1856: 32Russell's and 33Elizabeth's marriage certificate. Full page.4

The 1860 census shows 32Russell, 33Elizabeth, and several young children,5 but this record raises some unexplained questions, as explained below.

1860: 32Russell's family in Washington County, Georgia. Full page.5

Problem: Unresolved Did 32Russell and 33Elizabeth have children before marrying? Oddly, some of the children in this 1860 census were clearly born before the couple's marriage in 1856. Since William P. Knight is listed as age 11, one may hope to find him in the 1850 census, but he doesn't seem to be listed, neither in 32Russell's household1 nor 33Elizabeth's.6 Lacking an explanation for these older, unexpected children, I can merely conclude that their parentage is uncertain. However, I see no reason to doubt the parentage of the couple's other children who were born later. In particular, recall that 16George W. Knight, born in 1870, is explicitly described as 32Russell's son in the 1880 census (as explained elsewhere).

32Russell was only about 32 years old when the American Civil War began. One might suspect that he fought in the war, but unfortunately the available records raise some confusing questions about his service—if he even served at all.

Problem: Unresolved 32Russell's middle initial and Civil War records During the American Civil War, many of Georgia's soldiers were sent to fight in more vital locations, e.g. to defend Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. As a result, few soldiers were available to defend Georgia, and slaves were becoming less obedient and more likely to attempt escape. Governor Joseph Brown, worried about the state's predicament, had the state legislature order a special census to list all white males age 16-60 not already in Confederate service, along with militarily significant facts like whether the men owned any guns or horses. This census would help the state government allocate its few home guard soldiers more efficiently. This census is formally called the 1864 Census for Re-organizing the Georgia Militia but is sometimes nicknamed the Joe Brown Census. The census for Washington County's militia district 92 lists one R. H. Knight, a 35 year-old, Georgia-born farmer who had no guns and no horses. In the “REMARKS” column, R. H. Knight is described as “Discharged.” 7 Other records copied above consistently show 32Russell's middle initial as W, not H, but other than that one difference, this "R. H. Knight" seems to be one and the same as 32Russell. He lives in militia district 92, just as 32Russell had in 18502 and 1851,3 and the estimated year of birth (1829) is consistent, too. So why is the middle initial different? Perhaps a scribe simply confused H and W; the letters do look similar when written by hand. Or perhaps 32Russell had two middle names. As noted previously, R. H. Knight is described as “Discharged.” In other words, he probably had served the Confederacy previously. There is a service record for an R. H. Knight of Captain Campbell's Independent Company of the Georgia Siege Artillery.8 He enlisted on 21 March 1863 as a substitute for J. L. Butler (Early in the war, draftees could avoid serving by hiring someone else to take their place.) at Bainbridge, a town in Georgia near the Florida border. He seems to have stayed with his unit until at least August 1863, but after that, there are no further records of his service until the very end of the war. You can see R. H. Knight's service record here.8

In 1867 the U.S. Congress passed several Reconstruction Acts. These Acts divided the former Confederacy into several military occupation zones, which were ruled by Union military commanders. The Acts also directed the commanding officers to register Southerners who wanted to vote in upcoming elections. One registration requirement was to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States; the obvious intent was to disfranchise any lingering Confederate resistance. 32Russell signed his oath on 9 July 1867.9

1867: 32Russell's loyalty oath to the United States, a requirement to vote during Reconstruction.9

The 1870 census shows 32Russell's family still in militia district 92, along with four new children.10 However, some of the information on this census is unexpected; see below for a more thorough discussion.

1870: 32Russell's family in militia district 92, Washington County, Georgia. Full page.10

Problem: Resolved 32Russell's 1860 vs. 1870 census listings Before describing the unexpected differences between 32Russell's 18605 and 187010 census listings, first let's establish that the families shown in these two censuses are indeed one and the same. Let's start by "stacking" the two censuses side-by-side. A few patterns are immediately obvious. Two children—Wealthy and Mary—have both aged 10 years as expected. There also seems to be a connection between Wilkinson (in the 1860 census) and James W. (in the 1870 census). Also remember: The 1870 census proves that 32Russell's family lived in the 92nd militia district.10 Although the 1860 census doesn't specify a militia district,5 other records (copied above) prove that 32Russell lived in militia district 92 in 18513 and possibly 1864.7 Based on the evidence presented above, I confidently conclude that these two census listings refer to the same family. However, comparing the two censuses does raise some questions: The censuses are ten years apart, so why have 32Russell and his wife only aged four years (from age 31 to 35)? Since all other records consistently show that 32Russell was born circa 1829, his age in the 1870 census (i.e., 35) is probably a simple error. Incorrect ages are very common within the U.S. censuses. 33Elizabeth's (or "Nancy's") age is discussed further on her page. 32Russell married 33Elizabeth in 1856,4 so in the 1870 census, who is Nancy? "Nancy" and 33Elizabeth are one and the same. Like the 1860 census,5 the 1880 census (copied below) records her name as Elizabeth.11 Furthermore, if one hypothetically assumes that 33Elizabeth died, and that 32Russell remarried to another woman named Nancy, one would expect to find some documentation of the marriage, but no such marriage is indexed in Glynda Giles Gerron's book Washington County, Georgia Marriage Records, Books A-M, 1828-1938. The name "Nancy" in the 1870 census may be a simple error. Or perhaps 33Elizabeth's middle name was Ann, and she was commonly called Nancy as a nickname. Notice that in the 1850 census, two other young women living with 33Elizabeth were named Anna and Mary Ann.12

32Russell defaulted on his taxes in 1872, despite owing only $2.13

1872: 32Russell defaults on $2 tax in militia district 92, Washington County.13

The next year (1873), he moved to militia district 1253 (map), where he remained for the rest of the decade.14 The 1880 census shows his family there.11

1880: 32Russell's family in militia district 1253, Washington County, Georgia. Full page.11

By 1883, 32Russell had moved again to militia district 1345.15 An 1886 tax digest that shows him there is the last record I've found of 32Russell.16

1886: 32Russell in the tax digest for militia district 1345, Washington County.16
This is the last known record pertaining to 32Russell.

I have found no other traces of 32Russell after 1886, nor do I know where he's buried. There's no mention of him in Tad Evans' book Washington County, Georgia, Newspaper Clippings, Volume III: 1881-1889, nor in William R. Henry's 1890 Federal Census, Court of Ordinary, Washington County, Georgia, Population Schedule. (Washington County is one of only a few with surviving copies of its 1890 census, but unfortunately 32Russell isn't listed therein. As the author himself explains, though, the list is likely incomplete, with potentially several thousand residents not listed.) Neither is he in the indices of Washington County's Wills Book B (1852-1903) nor Inventories & Appraisements Book B (1863-1901). He seems to have been rather poor, so he probably died intestate. His property is not identified in militia district 1345 in M. L. Jackson's 1897 map of Washington County.

Sources Cited:

1: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Division 91, Washington County, Georgia. Page 253, dwelling 755, family 755, Jesse B. Knight household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 170. Internet Archive, <http://archive.org/stream/7thcensus0067unix#page/n364/mode/1up>, accessed 23 May 2013.

2: Washington County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1850, page 17, Jesse B. Knight and Russell Knight. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-7HRZ?i=580&cc=4130006&cat=307097>, accessed 8 October 2021.

3: Washington County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1851, page 18, J.B. Knight and R.W. Knight. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-74PF?i=654&cc=4130006&cat=307097>, accessed 8 October 2021.

4: Washington County, Georgia. Marriage book B (1852-1860), page 275, marriage of Russell W. Knight and Elizabeth Price. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-LBZ6-WYR?i=376&cc=1927197&cat=287695>, accessed 8 October 2021.

5: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Washington County, Georgia. Page 271, dwelling 847, family 827, Russel W Knight household. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 140. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu140unit#page/n273/mode/1up>, accessed 9 October 2021.

6: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Division 91, Washington County, Georgia. Page 245B, dwelling 626, family 626, Moore Price household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 87. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/7thcensus0067unix#page/n348/mode/1up>, accessed 9 October 2021.

7: 1864 Census for Re-Organizing the Georgia Militia. Militia district 92, Washington County, Georgia. Page 1, entry 11, R. H. Knight. Georgia Virtual Vault, <https://vault.georgiaarchives.org/digital/collection/1864/id/3526/rec/2>, accessed 8 October 2021.

8: Compiled Confederate service record of Private R. H. Knight of Captain Campbell's Independent Company of Georgia Siege Artillery, Georgia. NARA microfilm publication M266, roll 100. National Archives Catalog, <https://catalog.archives.gov/id/163118820>, accessed 23 February 2020.

9: Georgia's 1867-1868 Voter Registration Oath Books. Volume 122 (Washington County Book A), page 203, entry 405, R. W. Knight. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, U.S., Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869" / Oath Book / Washington / 20 / image 1060 of 1356), accessed 9 October 2021. Although I copied the image from Ancestry.com, the corresponding microfilm at the Georgia Archives is microfilm 296/44.

10: 1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Lamb's militia district 92, Washington County, Georgia. Page 217A, dwelling 80, family 79, Russell Knight household. NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 182. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu0182unit#page/n111/mode/1up>.

11: 1880 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 1253, Washington County, Georgia. Enumeration district 138, page 384, dwelling 143, family 143, Russell Knight household. NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 171. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/10thcensus0171unit#page/n149/mode/1up>, accessed 9 October 2021.

12: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Division 91, Washington County, Georgia. Page 245B, dwelling 626, family 626, Moor Price household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 87. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/stream/7thcensus0067unix#page/n348/mode/1up>, accessed 8 October 2021.

13: Washington County, Georgia. Tax digests for 1872-1877, year 1872 (not explicitly labeled as such), defaulters' list, R.W. Knight. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893" / Washington / 1872-1877 / images 130 and 131 of 1058), accessed 17 February 2013.

14: ibid., Ancestry.com, images 297, 458, 630, 802, and 992 for the years 1873-1877, respectively.

15: Washington County, Georgia. 1883-1886 tax digest book, year 1883 (not explicitly labeled as such), 1345th militia district, Russel W. Knight. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892," Washington, 1883-1886, images 173 and 174 of 1018), accessed 7 May 2014.

16: ibid., year 1886, images 925 and 926