Evidence to identify the father of 512 John Knight

Evidence to identify the father of 512John Knight

Part 1: Paper-Trail Evidence

Laura Knight-Jadczyk's article "John Knight of Sussex County VA" presents traditional, paper-trail evidence to propose that 512John Knight's father is James Knight, son of Captain Peter Knight. The most important part for our present discussion begins with the sentence, "As I noted, if John's eldest son, William, was born c. 1713, that means this John would be born c. 1690 himself, [...]." (If the preceding article link goes down, here's a back-up copy.)

Although I'll refer you to the original article for a more thorough reading, key evidence underlying Laura's proposal includes:

(1)	512John's son William first appears in a land record dated 10 January 1735/6.1 Extrapolating, one can guess that he was about 22 years old, thus born circa 1713. Extrapolating further, 512John must have been born a generation earlier, perhaps circa 1690.
(2)	As a young adult, 512John may have been living in Nansemond County, Virginia (but later relocated to Sussex County). A record dated 16 June 1714 pertaining to Nansemond County land mentions a John Knight,2 who might be our 512John.
(3)	The two considerations above—that 512John may have born circa 1690 and may have lived in Nansemond County—would position him (in time and place) such that he could have been James Knight's son.

Sources Cited for Part 1:

1: Virginia Land Office, patents book 16 (1735), pages 441-443. Library of Virginia, <http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/014/401-500.html>, accessed 29 April 2023.

2: ibid., patents book 10 (1710-1719), page 186. <http://image.lva.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/drawer?retrieve_image=LONN&dir=/LONN/LO-1/010-1/010&image_number=0201&offset=%2B15&name=Patents+No.10+1710-1719&dbl_pgs=no&round=>. John Knight is mentioned on the 8th line from the bottom of the page.

Part 2: The Hope for Y-DNA Evidence

Unlike for 512John, we have considerably more reliable evidence that James Knight had a son Francis. Further, we have reliable evidence from Francis down to his great-grandson William C. Knight (at least).

If a male-line descendant of William C. Knight were to take a Y-DNA test, comparing his results with results from 512 John's descendants may help to confirm Laura Knight-Jadczyk's proposal that 512John's father is James. However, I haven't yet found/identified a relevant descendant; I'm offering a financial reward for anyone who can help with this.

(Note: Previously, I had hoped to use the Y-DNA from a descendant of Matthew Knight, an alleged brother of William C. Knight. Unfortunately, though, there is no firm evidence to prove Matthew's parentage, unlike for William. I've described the evidence that I have found here.)

Below is a brief presentation of evidence to connect each generation from Captain Peter Knight down to William C. Knight.

1: Captain Peter Knight

2: James Knight (proposed most recent common ancestor)

SOURCE: Northumberland County, Virginia. Record book for the years 1706-1720, page 175. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99P6-YHF5?cat=363009>

SOURCE: Northumberland County, Virginia. Record book for the years 1706-1720, pages 198-199. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99P6-YHF4?i=572&cat=363009> et seq.

3: Francis Knight

Unfortunately, James Knight's will isn't extant. One suspects that it would've identified Francis—and 512John—as James' sons. However, a court record (copied below) that describes the will's probate does mention James as one of two executors. Other records insinuate (albeit very loosely) that Francis may have been younger than James by some years.* Together, these considerations seem sufficient evidence that James was Francis' father.

SOURCE: Northumberland County, Virginia. Orders book for the years 1713-1719, page 198. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS46-1SR9-7?i=136&cat=401620>

4: John Knight

SOURCE: Northumberland County, Virginia. Record book for the years 1726-1729, page 34a. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9LP-H4N5?cat=363009>.

5: William Butcher Knight

John Knight was married to Hannah,† and her will (copied below) identifies William Butcher Knight as her son.

SOURCE: Northumberland County, Virginia. Record book 13 (1785-1787), page 201. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99P6-T98R>.

6: William C. Knight

SOURCE: Greene County, Virginia. Register of deaths for the years 1853-1896, page 114, entry for Wm C Knight. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6GBZ-ZD3?i=338&cc=3940896&cat=780106>.

Footnotes for part 2:

*	The last reliable record of James Knight is dated 21 August 1712.1 Francis' will was probated 15 February 1726/7.2
†	Hannah's will (copied above) mentions a son John, and in a later indenture this son John explicitly states that his father was John, husband of Hannah.3 Less explicit but still notable is a record showing that Mrs. Hannah Knight was a major purchaser at John Knight's estate sale on 23 December 1773.4

Other sources cited for part 2:

1: Northumberland County, Virginia. Record book for the years 1706-1720, page 180. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99P6-YHN6>.

2: Northumberland County, Virginia. Record book for the years 1726-1729, page 34a. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9LP-H4N5?cat=363009>.

3: Northumberland County, Virginia. Record book 12 (1782-1785), page 281. <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89P6-57FR>.

4: Northumberland County, Virginia. Record book 10 (1776-1780), page 358. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9P6-RVYH>.