Person:David Knight (84)

BIOGRAPHY: !History of Norwich Connecticut, page 298, David Knight,Jr. was paid a bounty in 1720 for catching and killing 28 rattlesnakes in Norwich.

Born, 12 DEC 1693, in Norwich, CT (Ref: Barbour Index, Utah Pioneers Biographies). Died, 19 DEC 1769, in Sprague, CT. Christened, 26 JUL 1718, in Canterbury,CT. Burial: DEC 1769 (Sprague Cemetery). Occupation: Carpenter. The will of David Knight, of Norwich, dated Feb. 25, 1762, probated Jan. 21, 1770, mentions wife Abigail; Joshua and Jerusha, children of deceased son Jonathan, late of Norwich; sons David, Phineas and John; daughters Abigail and Jerusha. The omission of the name of Deborah creates a question as to whether she was his daughter as she was living at that time. The inventory of his estate was dated Jan. 24, 1770, the amount being 231 pounds 8 shillings 10 pence and includes "The farm of Land where ye Deceased Mr. David Knight Last Dwelt Lying in Norwich in Hanover Society containing about forty five acres with ye Buildings thereon & appurtenences thereunto Belonging" estimated at 178 pounds 15 shillings. The covers to the inventory are parts of the New London Gazette dated Oct. 6, 1769.

Hanover was incorporated at the May session of the General Assembly in 1761 and was made up of the northerly part of Newent (now Lisbon), the southwest corner of Canterbury and the Southeast corner of Windham. It was a little more than a year before the death of David Knight, when he was seventy-five years old, that an agreement was made with the Rev. Andrew Lee to become the pastor of the new church at Hanover, which was known as the eighth Church of Christ in Norwich. A meeting was held at the house of Capt. Samuel Bishop on Oct. 12, 1768, and the following was adopted:

We agree to take the Scriptures for the perfect Rule of our Lives & also for our Rule as to the affairs of God's house. And for the better understanding of God's mind in his word concerning Church discipline we agree to practice according to the Platform drawn up by the Synod at Cambridge in the year 1648, which we look upon to be the Congregational way that we choose to practice; concluding that all organized Church acts proceed after the manner of a mixt Administration, so that no Church Act can be consummated & compleated, without the Consent of the Elder & Brotherhood. Of the nine men, in addition to the Pastor Elect, who signed this agreement, David Knight was the first, Jonathan Knight the second, and David Knight, Jr., was the last. An ecclesiastical council had been held as early as May 13, 1766, when the church had been organized, and of the nine men who were charter members David Knight was the first mentioned, David, Jr., was the last and Jonathan was included; of the six women members, Abigail Knight was one. The list of church members at the settlement of the pastor as shown in the records has David Knight, the first male, died aged 76, David Knight, Jr., the last male of the nine, died aged 83, Abigail Knight, the first named female, died aged 90.

Distribution of Estate of David Knight, late of Norwich, made on May 4, 5, & 8, 1770 has the item:- "We have set out to Deborah Butt ye third Daughter of ye sd Deceased in ye Moveable Estate of ye sd Deceased, one Black Jacoat, one pair Stilberds, one pair of Shoes & Sundry other Articles of ye Moveable Estate of sd Deceased all at Inventory price amounting in ye whole to ye Sum of 3 pounds 9 shillings 1 pence."

Ref. Mccormick-Hamilton-Lord-Day Ancestral Lines, compiled for Elizabeth Day McCormick & Robert Hall McCormick III, privately printed, 1957.

The Backus Families of Early New England By Reno Warburton Backus 1966 - Page 12

Levi Byram and Martha Jane Belnap Gold Medal Pioneers By Donald Levi Gale Hammon 1996 - Page 15

DEATH: http://www.slumberland.org/gene/ps04/ps04_041.htm The inventory of his estate was dated Jan. 24, 1770, the amount being 231 pounds 8 shillings 10 pence and includes "The farm of Land where ye Deceased Mr. David Knight Last Dwelt Lying in Norwich in Hanover Society containing about forty five acres with ye Buildings thereon & appurtenences thereunto Belonging" estimated at 178 pounds 15 shillings. Glenn Douglas Knight, "A New England Knight Family History," http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/k/n/i/Glenn-Douglas-Knight/GENE1-0003.html, May 1998.

Headstones in old hanover cemetery, almost readable. Patriarch stone is part of cedar tree in center of cemetery. Reads as follows;

Here lies ye body of ye Well beloved and Godly man Mr David Knight He religned his mortal life saying I do rejoice (stone chipped) Decm r 19, 1769 age 75

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Moriarty, G. Andrews. The Early Knights of Rhode Island. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Jul 1933)
   87:269.

   David (Knight), b. at Woodstock 10. 12 mo. 1693 [10 Feb. 1693/4].

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Old Hanover Cemetery, in Find A Grave.

   David E. Knight

3. ↑ Barbour, Lucius Barnes, and Newton Case Brainard. Vital Records of Woodstock, 1686-1854. (Hartford, Connecticut: The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., 1914)
   p.3.

   "David Knight Son of David Knight by Sarah his wife born 10^br : 12 1693"