Sarah Knight

Sarah Kemble

• Birth: Apr 19 1666 - Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America
• Death: Sep 25 1727 - New London County, Connecticut, British Colonial America
• Parents: Thomas Kemble, Elizabeth Trerise
• Husband: Richard Knight (1668-17707) - married before 1689, Boston, Massachusetts
• Daughter: Elizabeth Knight (1689-1735) - married Col. John Livingston

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Biography

Sarah Kemble Knight (April 19, 1666 – September 25, 1727) was a teacher and businesswoman, who is remembered for her diary of a journey from Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, to New York City, Province of New York, in 1704–1705, a courageous and unusual adventure for a woman to undertake on her own.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Kemble_Knight

Knight was born in Boston to Captain Thomas Kemble and Elizabeth Trerice.[1] Her father was a merchant of Boston. In 1689, Sarah married Richard Knight. They had one child, Elizabeth. Having been left a widow after her husband's death in 1703, Knight assumed the responsibility of managing her household. In 1706 she opened a boarding house and taught school, which gained some reputation in Boston. She is described as “excelling in the art of teaching composition.”[2] Unverified rumor has it that the Mather children and Benjamin Franklin were included among her pupils, but Kathryn Zabelle Derounian-Stodola, a professor at the University of Kansas at Little Rock who specializes in Early American women writers, speculates that this “writing school attended by Benjamin Franklin is more likely rumor than fact.”[3] For additional income Knight also made copies of court records and wrote letters for people having business with the court. Historians have recently noted that Knight’s civil engagement is not as exceptional as it once seemed, for in the early eighteenth century many women played significant economic roles.[4]

In 1713, Knight's daughter married John Livingston, of Connecticut, and Madam Knight moved with them to New London, where she continued her business and land dealings.[1] Madam Knight, as she was generally called as a mark of respect, spent the rest of her life either in New London or Norwich, Connecticut. She owned several farms in New London, and had a home in Norwich. She ran an inn out of the Livingston farm in New London.[5] In 1718 the Norwich town record says she was “taxed twenty shillings for selling strong drink to the Indians,” but it adds “Madam Knight accuses her maid, Ann Clark, of the fact.”[6] When she died in 1727, she left her daughter a large estate,[1] “attesting to her shrewdness and skill as a businessperson.”[7]

Sarah Kemble Knight is buried at Ye Antientist Burial Ground, New London

Journey from Boston to New York

approximate route of Sarah Kemble Knight's Journey, 1704-1705

Having previously worked as a court scrivener, Knight possessed a basic working knowledge of legal matters. In 1704, she took it upon herself to "settle the estate of her cousin[,] Caleb Trowbridge[,] on behalf of his widow," [8] and began her journey, on horseback, from Boston, Massachusetts to New Haven, Connecticut, an unparalleled feat for a woman at this time. She recounted her experiences during the five month journey in the “journals” that have made her known to students of American colonial literature and history. The small diary of her Boston–New York journey passed into private hands and lay undiscovered until 1825 when it was published posthumously as The Journal of Mme Knight by Theodore Dwight.[9] The Journal of Madam Knight has subsequently been reprinted by others with additional biographical information.[10]

Her Journal

Her journal remains noteworthy both for its larger-than-life central character (Knight) and its telling of a trying journey not normally undertaken by a woman.[11] The discomforts of primitive traveling are described with much sprightliness and not a little humor, including poems of gratitude and relief about finding moonlight, and poems of frustration about the loud sounds of drunken-men late at night.[10] The journal is valuable as a history of the manners and customs of the time, and is full of graphic descriptions of the early settlements in New England and New York. At the same time, it is interesting for its original orthography and interspersed rhymes.[12]

Structure[edit] Knight's journal is largely a ledger of the places and people she encountered during each day of her trip. Expository information such as, "About three o'clock afternoon, I begun my Journey from Boston to New-Haven; being about two Hundred Mile. My Kinsman, Capt. Robert Luist, waited on me as farr as Dedham, where I was to meet ye Western post," is interspersed with poetic interludes and extended scenes Knight found worthy of noting.[13]

The extended scenes highlight remarkable or memorable interactions, usually with people that Knight has strong opinions about. For example, early in the journal, crosses a swamp with a man she describes as "honest John." She embellishes this account with references of how impressed she was with him, citing stories he told of adventures that convinced her that he was "a Prince disguis'd." Upon reaching the next stop, Knight is confronted with this man's eldest daughter, who interrogates her with "silly questions" referring to the unusualness of a woman being on such a journey, to which Knight responds curtly, calling her rude. These instances of hyperbole and character judgment contrast with other, apparently less remarkable interactions, such as the following account of a transaction between two postmen (one of which was her guide), in which she does not even name her guide: "About 8 in the morning, I with the Post proceeded forward without observing any thing remarkable; And about two, on, Arrived at the Post's second stage, where the western Post mett him and exchanged Letters." This account, however, is immediately followed by a detailed description of a meal Knight was served, which appears to have been notable for its unpleasant appearance and aftermath. Extended scenes describing Knight's unpleasant encounters with food occur often throughout her journal.

Some moments during the journey appear to have had a profound impact on Knight. These experiences are marked by distinct poetic interludes in her journal. In one instance, Knight finds herself riding her horse in the pitch-dark woods alone late at night. She feels intensely fearful until the moon reveals itself and lights her way, after which she experiences an epiphanic sense of relief and gratitude toward the moon. She unpacks this moment with the following prose:

  Fair Cynthia, all the Homage that I may  

  Unto a Creature, unto thee I pay;  

  In Lonesome woods to meet so kind a guide,   

  To Mee's more worth than all the world beside.  

  Some Joy I felt just now, when safe got or'e  

  Yon Surly River to this Rugged shore,  

  Deeming Rough welcomes from these clownish Trees,

  Better than Lodgings wth Nereidees.  

  Yet swelling fears surprise; all dark appears–  

  Nothing but Light can disipate those fears.   

  My fainting vitals can't lend strength to say,  

  But softly whisper, O I wish 'twere day.  

  The murmer hardly warma the Ambient air,  

  E' re thy Bright Aspect rescues from dispair:

  Makes the old Hagg her sable mantle loose,  

  And a Bright joy do's through my Soul diffuse.  

  The Boistero's Trees now Lend a Passage Free,   

  And pleasent prospects thou giv'st light to see.  

Later, she encounters a very poor family, for whom she seems to feel an overwhelming sense of empathy. She unpacks the emotional nuances of this epiphany as follows:

  Tho' Ill at éase, A stranger and alone,  

  All my fatigues shall not extort a grone.  

  These Indigents have hunger wth their ease;   

  Their best is worn behalfe then my disease.  

  Their Misirable butt wch Heat and Cold  

  Alternately without Repulse do hold;  

  Their Lodgings thyn and hard, their Indian fare

  The mean Apparel which the wretches wear,  

  And their ten thousand ills wch can't be told,  

  Makes nature er'e 'tis midle age'd look old.   

  When I reflect, my late fatigues do seem  

  Only a notion or forgotten Dreem. 

Although written as a journal and despite her occasional poetic expressions, Knight's writing is primarily focused outward, concerned with taking stock of her surroundings as she travels. In one instance, she notes that some of her experiences and stories are "not proper to be Related by a Female pen," suggesting that even though she wrote privately, Knight was aware of the possibility her work might be read by an external party. [14]

Danger, Courage, and Determination

Knight's journey was a difficult one, and both the dangers and her courage and determination throughout the journey are illustrated in multiple moments throughout her journal. Knight’s shrewd business savvy and determination is apparent early in her account of her journey when she writes about an exchange concerning payment for an escort. She tells the woman attempting to get more money from her simply that she “would not be accessary to such extortion.” [15] In the end, Knight stands her ground and is able to bypass the negotiator, deal directly with the would-be escort, and arrange a price she feels is fair. Aside from having to negotiate her interactions with other people, Knight must traverse some rather dangerous landscapes unfamiliar to her. Along the way, Knight may seem to feel fear or apprehension, but she urges herself on, conquering her fears as she crosses rivers, swamps, and woods, in canoe, on horseback and by foot. Before crossing a particularly hazardous river, Knight cannot rid herself of thoughts of drowning, writing, "The concern of mind this relation sett me in: no thoughts but those of the dang'ros River could entertain my Imagination, and they were as formidable as varios, still Tormenting me with blackest Ideas of my Approaching fate–Sometimes seeing my self drowning, otherwhiles drowned, and at the best like a holy Sister just come out of a Spiritual Bath in dripping Garments."[16] However, Knight appears to realize she must conquer her fear, writing, “I now ralyed all the Courage I Was mistriss of, Knowing that I must either Venture my fate of drowning, or be left like ye Children in the wood.” [17] This is not the last danger water presents during Knight's journey. Near the end of the journey, she has a rather close call when she writes, "But in going over the Causeway at Dedham the Bridge being overflowed by the high waters coming down I very narrowly escaped falling over into the river Hors and all wch twas almost a miracle I did not." [18] In addition to the danger posed by the rivers, Knight writes about the less than ideal roads on which she must travel. She explains in her straight-forward manner that "[t]he Rodes all along this way are very bad, Incumbred wth Rocks and mountainos passages, wch were very disagreeable to my tired carcass."[19] These examples provide just a sampling of the dangers faced by Knight on her journey as chronicled in her journal. Knight is not exceptional in that she does not feel fear throughout her journey, but that she appears to be strong enough to know what must be done and overcome that fear. Within the journal, Knight shows both determination and courage as she undertakes a difficult and unusual journey for a woman in early America.

Birth: Apr. 19, 1666 Boston Suffolk County Massachusetts, USA Death: Sep. 25, 1727 New London New London County Connecticut, USA

Diarist, Schoolteacher, Innkeeper. In 1702 she traveled round trip on horseback from Boston to New York. She chronicled her five-month adventure in a diary that was discovered and published in 1825 as "Private Journal of a Journey from Boston to New York in the Year 1704." It is still read for authentic information on colonial times and customs. Daughter of Thomas Kemble, wife of Richard Knight with whom she had one daughter, Elizabeth. (bio by: Jan Franco)

Inscription: Here Lyeth The Body of Mrs. Sarah Knight Who Died Sept. The 25th 1727 In The 62d Year of Her Age.

Burial: Ancient Cemetery New London New London County Connecticut, USA

Edit Virtual Cemetery info [?]

Maintained by: Find A Grave Originally Created by: Jan Franco Record added: Jul 17, 2005 Find A Grave Memorial# 11366960

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrivener A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who, before the advent of compulsory education, could read and write or who wrote letters as well as court and legal documents. Styles of handwriting used by scriveners included secretary hand, book hand and court hand.
2. http://www.findagave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11366960
3. American Passages: A Literary Survey. "Sarah Kemble Knight (1666-1727)" < link >
4. "Sarah Knight's 1704 Journal" https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KZ91-GRB
5. "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHMS-8GH : 15 January 2020), Sarah Kemble, 1666. Name Sarah Kemble Sex Female Father's Name Thomas Father's Sex Male Mother's Name Elizabeth Mother's Sex Female Event Type Birth Event Date 19 Apr 1666 Event Place Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America Event Place (Original) Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States
6. "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCWK-F9M : 14 January 2020), Sarah in entry for Elizabeth Knight, 1689. Name Elizabeth Knight Sex Female Father's Name Richard Knight Father's Sex Male Mother's Name Sarah Mother's Sex Female Event Type Birth Event Date 8 May 1689 Event Place Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America Event Place (Original) Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States
7. "Connecticut, Charles R. Hale Collection, Vital Records, 1640-1955", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F781-5J3 : Fri Mar 08 02:01:40 UTC 2024), Entry for Mrs. Sarah Knight, 25 September 1727. ame Mrs. Sarah KnightnSex Female Age 61 years Birth Year (Estimated) 1666 Burial Place New London, Connecticut Event Type Death Event Date 25 September 1727 Event Place Manchester, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Event Place (Original) Connecticut, United States
8. Online Books by Sarah Kemble Knight < link >
9. The Living Age, Volume 57, pages 963-980. An article mentioned as a source in the journal of Sarah Knight. Includes commentary on the Journal, as well as a excerpt. < Hathitrust >
10. Bush, Sargent. “Sarah Kemble Knight (1666–1727).” Legacy 12, no. 2 (1995): 112–20. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25679166.
11. National Humanities Center Resource Toolbox. “Becoming American: The British Atlantic Colonies, 1690-1763.” < PDF > Remarks on “this whole Colony of Connecticut” 1704-1705.
12. U.S. Intellectual History Blog. "A Long Day’s Journey for Madam Knight" (2018) < link > "At tale’s end, Sarah Kemble Knight wrote that her return to Moon Street brought “Kind relations and friends flocking in to welcome mee and hear the story of my transactions and travails I having this day bin five months from home and now I cannot fully express my joy and Satisfaction. But desire sincearly to adore my Great Benefactor for thus graciously carying forth and returning in safety his unworthy handmaid.” As Sarah Kemble Knight reminds us in her remarkable journal: In the wilderness, no two errands were alike."