Person:Nehemiah Knight (46)

Nehemiah Knight served as a State Senator from Rhode Island, Attended the common schools; member, State House of Representatives 1802; moved to Providence, Rhode Island, and was Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas 1805 - 1811; Clerk of the Circuit Court 1812-1817; Collector of Customs for the same period; Governor of Rhode Island 1817-1821; President of the Roger Williams Bank 1817-1854; elected in 1821 as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Burrill, Jr.; reelected in 1823, 1829, and again in 1835, the last time as a Whig and served from January 9, 1821, to March 3, 1841; chairman. Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expense (Twenty-second, Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congress); retired from public life; delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1843. (Biographies, page 1422)

Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century. Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography page 562

The Life and Times of Samuel Gorton The Founders and the Founding of the Republic Philadelphia 1907 - Page 265

Sprague Families, of Rhode Island Cotton Manufacturers and Calico Printers By Benjamin Knight, Sr. Santa Cruz H. Coffin, Book and Job Printer 1881 - Page 8

Incidents in the Life and Times of Stukeley Westcote, with some of his Descendants J. Russell Bullock 1888 - Page X

Manual with Rules and Orders for the use of the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island Providence, R I. E. L. Freeman & Sons, State Printers 1901

1816 Election for Gov. of Rhode Island For William Jones 3591 For Nehemiah Knight 3259

1817 Election For Nehemiah R. Knight 3949 For William Jones 3878

1818 Election For Nehemiah R. Knight 4509 For Elisha R. Potter 3893

1819 Nehemiah R. Knight Elected without opposition

1820 Nehemiah Knight elected number of votes not recorded

1834 Election For John Brown Francis 3676 For Nehemiah R. Knight 3520

1835 Election For John Brown Francis 3880 For Nehemiah R. Knight 3774

Elections for U.S. Senator

January 9, 1821. Nehemiah R. Knight elected unanimously for unexpired term of James Burrill, Jr., deceased, (ending March 3, 1823.)

January 17, 1823. Vote in Grand Committee 1st Ballot Nehemiah R. Knight 39 Elisha R. Potter 37 William C. Gibbs 1 Samuel W. Bridgeham 1 William Valentine 1 2nd Ballot Nehemiah R. Knight 40 Elisha R. Potter 39 Nehemiah R. Knight elected for six years commencing on the 4th of March ensuing. October 31, 1828. Nehemiah R. Knight elected unanimously for six years, commencing on the 4th of march ensuing. May 13, 1835. Nehemiah R. Knight elected for six years, commencing on the 4th of March preceding. The Vote was: Nehemiah R. Knight 41 Elisha R. Potter 38

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the End of the Century: A History Edited by Edward Field, A.B. The Mason Publishing Company Boston & Syracuse 1902 Nehemiah R. Knight's long political career is well documented in this volume.

KNIGHT, NEHEMIAH RICE, banker, state legislator, governor, United States senator, was born Dec. 31, 1780, in Cranston, R. I. He was elected to the Rhode Island state legislature; and was also for many years president of the Roger Williams bank. He was elected governor of Rhode Island in 1817, and re-elected in 1819 and 1820. He was a senator in congress from 1821 to 1841. He died April 19, 1854, in Providence, R. I.

1833 Newport Mercury, printed and published by Wm & J H Barber, No. 133 Thames Street: Newport RI newspapers in excellent condition from bound volume, 4 pages 13" x 17 inches each issue.

Senate 2/20/1833 - discussing amending revenue Act of 1832, reimposing duty on copper, ship's bottoms - Mr Smith fears ruin of US manufacturer's, as English stored large quantities in Baltimore; Mr Knight also favors protection; Poindexter from Missippi opposed bill and criticized Mr Webster's speeches during late war; Mr Grundy gave way to Mr Webster of Massachusets - reply mentions Mr Calhoun of South Carolina; contemptuous rebuttal by Poindexter resulted in him being called to order; Mr Grundy and Mr Ewing spoke at length in favor of bill; Mr Calhoun wanted to postpone bill vote to next morning ; Mr Wilkins did not agree; final vote 32 Yeas - Bell, Chambers, Clayton, Dallas, Dickerson, Dudley, Ewing, Foot, Forsyth, Frelinghuysen, Grundy, Hendricks, Hill, Holmes, Johnston, Kane, Knight, Naudain, Prentiss, Rives, Robbins, Robinson, Ruggles, Silsbee, Sprague, Tipton, Tomlinson, Waggaman, Webster, White, Wilkins, Wright - 1 Nay Tyler.

From: Helen Cooper <helen_cooper@bc.sympatico.ca> Subject: Nehemiah Rice Knight, Gov Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 07:18:12 -0800

Historic Gleanings in Windham Co., CT pg 157 talking about the growth of towns:- "A future governor of Rhode Island,Nehemiah Knight,Residing for a time as business agent at the Quinebaub Falls--now in Putnam, was was extremely popular among the country belles, and is accredited with the honor of instituting the picnic in Windham County., and also for providing a place for it, laying out a walk on the tongue of land between the Quinebaug and Mill Rivers, under the fanciful name of La Solitaire."

The Knight Family American Genealogical Institute 1975 pages 84 - 90

Nehemiah Rice Knight (31 December 1780 - 18 April 1854):senator and seventh governor of Rhode Island. Born in Cranston,Rhode Island, Nehemiah was the son of Nehemiah Knight. Knight lacked a formal education, as he spent his early years on his fathers farm. He represented Cranston in the General Assembly in 1802 at which time he moved to Providence where he would remain the rest of his life. Here he was clerk of court of common pleas for six years beginning in 1805. During the War of 1812 Knight was appointed collector of internal revenue and clerk of the circuit court for the district of Rhode Island. Elected governor in 1817, Knight urged the legislature to establish a public school system. This bill would not be passed until 1928, however, because of the public adversity to free schools. In 1821 Knight was elected to the United States Senate and would serve until 1841. He represented Providence in the 1843 convention that passed the present state constitution. In addition to his political duties, Knight was president of the Roger Williams Bank. He was married to Lydia Waterman. Knight died in Providence at the age of seventy-three.

LAND: The Providence,Providence,Rhode Island City Tax, ordered by the city council June 1845, to be assessed at the rate of $.38 cents per $100.00 of ratable property. The following individual was rated as follows.

                                        Real.      Per.       Amt. Of  Tax

Nehemiah R. Knight 106 113 83,22

DEATH: New England Ancestry of Susan Alma Cook 1866-1934 Researched and Compiled by Philip R. Bunnelle Santa Clara, California 1998 Published by PB Press - Santa Clara, Ca Page 41

  Hon. Nehemiah Rice: b. Cranston 31 Dec 1780; d. 18 Apr 1854 (Cooper, p. 136), bur. Grace Church Cemetery, Prov. (Cranston?); m. Cranston 21 July 1799 Lydia Waterman; no heirs; he was elected U.S. Senator 9 January 1821, for the unexpired term of Jame Burrill, Jr., dec.; following his election, the newly founded Pawtucket Worsted Co. presented him with a vest of their own manufacture, which he wore to Washington, and which attracted considerable attention as being the first specimen of worsted goods manufactured in the U.S.. The July 1854 issue of the New England Historic Genealogical Register carried the following notice under Deaths:
  KNIGHT, Hon. Nehemiah R., Providence, R.I., 18 April, ae 74; of whom the Providence Journal remarks, that there is no man living in the state who has been so long in public life. He was governor of Rhode Island from 1817 to 1821, and a Senator of the United States from 1821 to 1841.

Governors of Rhode Island

Nicholas Cooke • William Greene • John Collins • Arthur Fenner • Henry Smith • Isaac Wilbour • James Fenner • William Jones • Nehemiah Knight • William Gibbs • James Fenner • Lemuel Arnold • John Francis • William Sprague • Samuel King • Thomas Dorr • James Fenner • Charles Jackson • Byron Diman • Elisha Harris • Henry Anthony • Philip Allen • Francis Dimond • William Hoppin • Elisha Dyer • Thomas Turner • William Sprague • William Cozzens • James Smith • Ambrose Burnside • Seth Padelford • Henry Howard • Henry Lippitt • Charles Van Zandt • Alfred Littlefield • Augustus Bourn • George Wetmore • John Davis • Royal Taft • Herbert Ladd • John Davis • Herbert Ladd • D. Russell Brown • Charles Lippitt • Elisha Dyer • William Gregory • Charles Kimball • Lucius Garvin • George Utter • James Higgins • Aram Pothier • R. Livingston Beeckman • Emery San Souci • William Flynn • Aram Pothier • Norman Case • Theodore Green • Robert Quinn • William Henry Vanderbilt • J. Howard McGrath • John Pastore • John McKierman • Dennis Roberts • Christopher Del Sesto • John Notte • John Chafee • Frank Lichy • Philip Noel • J. Joseph Garrahy • Edward DiPrete • Bruce Sundlun • Lincoln Almond • Donald Carcieri • Lincoln Chafee

1.   Nehemiah R. Knight, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.

   the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

   Nehemiah Rice Knight (December 31, 1780April 18, 1854) was Governor of Rhode Island and United States Senator from Rhode Island.

   Born in Cranston, he attended the common schools. In 1802 he was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives; he moved to Providence and was clerk of the Court of Common Pleas from 1805 to 1811 and clerk of the circuit court from 1812 to 1817. He was also collector of customs for the same period. He was the ninth Governor of Rhode Island from 1817 to 1821 and president of the Roger Williams Bank from 1817 to 1854.

   Knight was elected in 1821 as a Democratic-Republican to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Burrill, Jr.; he was reelected in 1823 as a Crawford Republican, in 1829 as an Anti-Jacksonian, and again in 1835 as a Whig, and served from January 9, 1821, to March 3, 1841. While in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses (Twenty-second, Twenty-third and Twenty-sixth Congresses) and a member of the Committee on Manufactures (Twenty-fourth Congress). Knight retired from public life and was a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1843. He died in Providence in 1854; interment was in Grace Church Cemetery.

   Nehemiah Rice Knight's father, Nehemiah Knight, had been a U.S. Representative from Rhode Island.

2. ↑ Providence, Rhode Island, United States. 1850 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   Sarah Jordon 61, Lydia Knight 69, Nehemiah R. Knight 69 RI, Michael Maloy 16, Mary McGhan 23, Suson Spponer 35 (Providence Ward 6, p. 450)