Person:Newell Knight (6)

Newel Knight (September 13, 1800 – January 11, 1847) was a close friend of Joseph Smith, Jr. and one of the first branch presidents in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

BIOGRAPHY: Page: 001470 Departure Date: 18 Apr 1846 Departure Place: Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, U S A Travel Company: Family, including wife, Lydia, & Family of Sister Anna Knight Demille (Freeborn). Party: Newel Knight, Capt Trail: Nauvoo, Mt Pisgah, Kainsville, Ponca Camp Arrival Date: 24 Aug 1946 Arrival Place: Niobrara, Nebraska, USA Religion: LDS Place Settled: Ponca Camp Occupation: Miller Death Date: 11 Jan 1847 Death Place: Ponca Camp Burial Place: Ponca Camp Sources: "They are My Friends" (Book) (Sup Library) Ancestral File & Ordinance Index Family Archives of Submitter Sub Name: Darrell V. Knight Sub Date: Jan 1999 Pioneer Immigrants to Utah Territory.

History of the Church, Vol.1, p.438, Footnotes Another instance is thus related by Newel Knight in his Journal, Scraps of Biography, pages 84 and 85: "I must not omit to mention one act of cruelty, which if possible, seems to surpass all others. In one of the settlements [in Jackson county] were four families of very old men infirm and very poor. They seemed to think that they would not be molested and so remained behind but no sooner did the mob learn of it, than they went to their houses, broke their windows and doors and hurled great stones into their rooms endangering their lives; thus were these poor old men and their families driven before the ruthless mob in midwinter. These men had served in the Revolutionary War--and Brother Jones had been one of General Washington's body guard--but this availed them nothing, for they were of the hated people. Thus were all the saints compelled to flee into Clay county, where the sympathies of the people were extended toward them."

History of the Church, Vol.1, p.438, Footnotes Another instance is thus related by Newel Knight in his Journal, Scraps of Biography, pages 84 and 85: "I must not omit to mention one act of cruelty, which if possible, seems to surpass all others. In one of the settlements [in Jackson county] were four families of very old men infirm and very poor. They seemed to think that they would not be molested and so remained behind but no sooner did the mob learn of it, than they went to their houses, broke their windows and doors and hurled great stones into their rooms endangering their lives; thus were these poor old men and their families driven before the ruthless mob in midwinter. These men had served in the Revolutionary War--and Brother Jones had been one of General Washington's body guard--but this availed them nothing, for they were of the hated people. Thus were all the saints compelled to flee into Clay county, where the sympathies of the people were extended toward them."

BY DARYL JAMES FROM 'JAMES/HATCH ONE MINUTE HISTORIES' (1994) Newel (sometimes spelled with two l's) Knight was born Sept. 13, 1800, in Marlborough, Vermont, but moved with his family at 9 to Bainbridge, N.Y. Two years later Newel moved again with his family to Colesville, N.Y., where he remained 19 years. "My father (Joseph Knight Sr.)owned a farm, grist mill and carding machine, Newel writes. "The business in which my father was engaged often required him to have hired help, and among the many he from time to time employed was a young man by the name of Joseph Smith Jr., to whom I was particularly attached. On June 7, 1825, Newel married Sally Colburn. The couple stayed near Newel's father's farm in Colesville and were frequently visited by this friend, Joseph Smith. "(Joseph) would frequently entertain us with accounts of the wonderful things which had happened to him, and we were deeply impressed with the truthfulness of his statements concerning the plates of The Book of Mormon which had been shown to him by an angel of the Lord, Newel writes.

Less than a week after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, Joseph asked Newel to pray at the first public discourse of the Church. Newel agreed but, when the time arrived, was overcome with a great fear which prevented him. That night, on April 11, 1830, in Fayette, N.Y., Newel retired privately to the woods to pray for a manifestation of the Lord's will for him. Again, Newel was unable to pray and soon was possessed by a devil. By the time he returned home his limbs were twisted out of shape; finally, he began to be thrown around the room. Sally called for Joseph. When the Prophet arrived he cast out the devil in the name of Christ. Newel reported he saw the devil pass through the ceiling as it left his body. This exorcism was known as the first miracle of the Church, and Newel was baptized soon afterward.

Persecutions arose in the area against Joseph and soon the Prophet was arrested on false charges. Newel's father obtained a lawyer for the Prophet, and Newel testified in the trial. The prosecutor asked Newel if "Joe Smith" had power to cast out devils, and Newel replied: "No, nor does any other mortal. But Christ has the power and can use Joseph Smith as His instrument when He so chooses. Newel labored as a missionary with Hyrum Smith and Orson Pratt in the fall of 1830.

In April 1831, members of the Colesville Branch (with Newel as leader) left their homes and started for Kirtland, Ohio. After being pushed by mobs from Ohio to Missouri and then back to Ohio, Sally caught malaria and died in a rainstorm in 1834, after giving birth to a son, who also died. Newel returned to Kirtland, where he eventually met and married Lydia Goldthwaite <http://members.cox.net/jameshistory/l_goldthwaite.html>. The ceremony was performed by the Prophet on Nov. 24, 1835. Newel had been working on the Kirtland Temple, and after its dedication he returned with Lydia to a home in Clay County, Mo. They were later among the first to settle Nauvoo, Ill., and among the first to head west to Utah. Newel was appointed a captain of 50, but died on the trail in Nebraska Jan. 11, 1847, at age 46.

Sources: 1. Lydia Knight's History: The First Book of the Noble Women's Lives Series. Juvenile Instructor Office, Salt Lake City, 1883. (On record at Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University; Provo, Utah.) 2. The Jesse Knight Family: Jesse Knight, His Forbears and Family, by J. William Knight. The Deseret News Press, 1940. (On record at Harold B. Lee Library, BYU, Provo, Utah.) 3. "The Knight Family: Ever Faithful to the Prophet," by William G. Hartley. The Ensign of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, January 1989, pps. 43-49.

William G. Hartley, "They Are My Friends," 132 Newel Knight sold his "cook stove and the only cow the mob had not killed," in order to provide for his family's removal from Far West. They simply left their farm lands and house behind. They hired a man with a team to take them east, leaving the town on 18 February 1839. The weather turned colder, and much of their trip took them through snow up to their wagon hubs.

DEATH: The Jesse Knight Family Jesse Knight, His Forebears and Family By Jesse William Knight The Deseret News Press 1941 - Page 18 In the spring of 1907, a party consisting of Jesse Knight; his daughter, Inez Knight Allen; his daughter-in-law, Lucy Jane B. Knight; an elder brother, Samuel R. Knight; President George H. Brimhall of Brigham Young University; and J.W. Townsend of Crete, Nebraska, visited the old campsite (Niobrara,Nebraska) and made arrangements for a piece of ground on which to erect a monument for Jesse's father. On this ground was erected an imposing granite shaft facing the highway, and enclosed by an iron fence. On the shaft is inscribed the following bit of history:

Erected 1908 NEWEL KNIGHT
Born September 13, 1800; Died, January 11,
1847. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
FATHER
Who died during the hardships of our exodus
From Nauvoo to Salt Lake City. "Blessed are they
Which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for
Theirs is the kingdom of Heaven,"-Matt. V:10.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Newel Knight. Person:Mormon leaders

1.   Newel Knight, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.