Biography

11/22/1787 - 11/22/1858

Jonathan Knight (D20) Greene (Part) and Washington (Part) Counties 1824-1828

Early Life: 

Jonathan Knight, born November 22, 1787, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; son of Abel and Anna S. Knight; common school education; surveyor, civil engineer; county commissioner, Washington County; secretary, first agricultural society organized, Washington County; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania Senate, 1824-1828; elected, Opposition Party, United States House of Representatives, 1855-1857, unsuccessful candidate for reelection, 1856, unsuccessful campaign, United States House of Representatives, 1858; resumed agricultural pursuits, East Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; married, Ann Heston,children, William Knight, Elizabeth Knight, Oliver Hampton Knight, David Shriver Knight, Zephaniah Beall Knight, Eber Heston Knight; died, November 22, 1858; interment, West Land Cemetery, West Brownsville, Washington County. 

Early Career: 

Appointed survey, map, Washington County, Pennsylvania, 1816.

Assisted in the preliminary surveys of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, National Road between Cumberland, Maryland, and Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia). Created an engineering staff, Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad, 1828. Appointed Chief Engineer, B&O, 1830-1842

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, county commissioner, Washington County, and served three years. 

Secretary, first agricultural society organized, Washington County. 

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania Senate, 20th district, Greene (Part) and Washington (Part) Counties, 1824-1828, original elected to serve until 1830, resigned his seat prior to the beginning 1828-1829 session, replaced by Thomas Ringland.

Continued Government Service/National Politics: 

Elected, Opposition Party, United States House of Representatives, Thirty-fourth Congress, March 4, 1855-March 3, 1857, unsuccessful candidate for reelection, Thirty-fifth Congress, 1856, unsuccessful campaign, United States House of Representatives, Thirty-sixth Congress 1858.

Legacy: 

Knightstown, Indiana, named in his honor.  

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members K". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Cox, Harold. Senate1790-1869 (wilkes.edu). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

From History of the B&O Railroad; Portrait of Knight’s Survey of the Potomac Highlands, between Hancock and Cumberland, Maryland, 1820s.  Knight is possibly depicted in the center.

Title: History of Washington County, Pennsylvania: with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men / edited by Boyd Crumrine. Illustrated. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts and Co., 1882. Page 987.

Jonathan Knight (1787-1858) - Find a Grave Memorial