Adelaide Clark House Knight

KNIGHT, HOUSE, CLARK

Posted By: Clay County IAGenWeb Coordinator (email)
Date: 11/21/2010 at 14:01:08

One of the most highly esteemed residents of Spencer, Clay county, is Mrs. Adelaide Clark House Knight, who enjoys an enviable reputation as a writer for the press and whose charming personality and gracious qualities have gained for her a host of loyal and devoted friends throughout this

Mrs. Knight was born in Burt county, Nebraska, on the 14th of January, 1868, and is a daughter of Harvey and Mary Jane (House) Clark. Her father was born at Nunda, New York, November 13, 1838, and died July 8, 1873, while her mother, who was born in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, October 26, 1843, died September 18, 1869. Mrs. Knight is descended from sterling gold English stock, her line being traced back directly to Richard and Frances (Dighton) Williams, who lived in Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1838, and also to Thomas Rogers, a passenger on the "Mayflower," through his granddaughter, Elizabeth Rogers, who was a daughter of John Rogers, and who married Nathaniel Williams. Her paternal grandfather James Clark, was the son of John, whose father, Jonathan Clark, was a soldier in the Revolutionary army from Morristown, New Jersey. Through these connections Mrs. Knight has been proved eligible to the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Mayflower Descendants, the Daughters of the Colonists, Colonial Dames, Order of the Crown, Americans of Royal Descent, Magna Charta Barons and other equally exclusive societies. Harvey Clark, who was born of pioneer parents, received a common school education, himself became a pioneer in Nebraska and was a veteran of the Civil war.

Mrs. Knight was but one year old at the time of the death of her mother, soon after which event her father, who died a year later, took her to her maternal uncle, A. E. House, at Delhi, Iowa, where she was reared and educated. She was married in that place, June 7, 1893, to Frank Wadsworth Knight, who is of English and Huguenot descent, the son of Joseph and Lois (Acker) Knight, both of whom were natives of Rushford, New York, the former born March 8, 1829. Mr. and Mrs. Knight had two children, Louise Lareau, born September 29, 1894, and Frank Albert, born June 19, 1896, who is in the naval aviation service.

Mr. and Mrs. Knight lived in Milford, Iowa, about twenty years, when they moved to Spencer, where they have lived for the past eleven years. Mrs. Knight taught school two years and published and edited the Earlville (Iowa) Phoenix two years. Politically, she is aligned with the republican party and takes a deep interest in public affairs. She is a member of the Congregational church and belongs to the Woman's Club, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Mayflower Descendants. She has been an extensive reader, holds well defined opinions on the leading questions of the day, and possesses a strong and vigorous literary style, her writings being widely read. Personally she is gracious and tactful, is a pleasing conversationalist and is extremely popular in the circles in which she moves.

Contributed by: Debbie Clough Gerischer. Source: Northwestern Iowa, Its History and Tradition, Volume II, 1804-1926.