West Tennessee has been a home to a great number of families. Still today you can see strong family ties to the area. People of northeastern Gibson County know that the names McCartney, Williams, Lannom, Alexander, Hollandsworth, Holt, and Akin were, and in some cases still are, names which are fairly common today. Everyone knows that people with the surname Stout, Godwin, Todd, Matheny, Brock, Drewry, and Dunning typically come from Weakley County. However, one surname binds the two counties together...Knott. Although some Knott's left Gibson County to travel to Weakley County, the family is more common in Gibson County than Weakley today.
The first Knott family member to come to this are was Alford Knott. He and his wife Nancy Aslin Knott came to Gibson County sometime before 1840. Alford only appeared on one Gibson County Census, the 1840 census, and was listed as "Alfred Not." He did not appear on a Gibson County census again. What happened to him still remains quite a mystery. There are unanswered question. Some wonder if he died, and some wonder if he abandoned his family. We know he was still alive in January of 1843, because his father, Henry Knott (husband of Elizabeth Mederias Knott) had a will probated at this time and it left $1.00 to Alford. There was no mention of Nancy Aslin Knott in this census, so we don't know if she was dead or if she was just not to receive Henry's possessions. Some say that Henry Knott traveled through this area and Alford stayed here. Henry then was said to have moved to Missouri. Regardless of what happened to Alford and Nancy, their children, Elizabeth, Henry Elbert, William Green, John J. "J.J.", Polly, Sarah, and Thomas Knott all remained here for some time.
Elizabeth married Martin Brown Arnold, the son of James Lee Arnold and Malinda "Millie" Gilliland Arnold. They had several children and their descendants stayed in the area. Elizabeth died on Dec. 21, 1875, and was buried in Belew's Chapel Cemetery of Gibson County, Tennessee. At that time, it was known as Zion Cemetery. Her husband Martin was a mason and died on Nov. 9, 1886. He was buried beside Elizabeth.
Henry Elbert married Camilla Martin and they and their children moved to Pemiscot County, Missouri. They still have descendants living there. Camilla later died and Henry married Josephine Dunavant. They lost their connection to the area, and therefore have no known descendants living in Gibson County today.
William Green Knott is my great-great-great-great-grandfather. He married Artilla Holt, the daughter of Preston Holt and Mary Honey/Haney Thetford Holt. Green was a Union Veteran of the War Between the States. He was said to have swum a river in the dead of winter to escape capture. He sought refuge in a barn, and upon awakening the next morning, he found his clothes frozen to his body. He survived, however, and was discharged from the army at a later date. He returned home to Artilla and their children. From there, they had several more children. Tragically, Artilla died on October 24, 1877, at the young age of 39 years. She was laid to rest at Shiloh General Baptist Cemetery near the city of Bradford and the community of Skullbone. William Green remarried, however, to Susan Jane Akin. Knott and Akin had two children. There is a continuation of Wm. Green's biography later in this piece.
John J. "J. J." Knott was the husband of Arie F. Connell for a short time, but upon her untimely death in 1857, J. J. remarried later that year to Elizabeth "Lizzie" Ford. He had several children, the one with the most present Knott descendants today is J. M. "Mosey" Knott. Mosey married Martha E. "Marthie" Pratt, daughter of James Sampson Pratt and Sarah Gamima "Sallie" McCartney Pratt.
Polly Knott married William Bowen. Information regarding their descendants would be greatly appreciated.
Sarah married William Hampton. They had a son named Elbert. Information on their descendants would also be appreciated.
William Green Knott was born on January 5, 1832, in either Gibson County, Tennessee, or Guilford County, North Carolina. If he was born in North Carolina, his parents moved shortly thereafter to Gibson County.
Green, as he was known to everyone, lived most of his life in northeastern Gibson County. He married Artilla Holt in 1854 and their first child, Preston Alford Knott (1) was born.
1) Preston Alford KNOTT was born on Jan. 16, 1856, in Gibson County, TN. He died on Jan. 10, 1909, in Gibson County, TN. He was buried in Patterson Cemetery, Gibson County, TN. P. Alford married Sarah E. "Surrie" Payne in Gibson County, Tennessee, in 1876.
Green and Artilla's second child was William Jasper Knott (2), my great-great-great-grandfather.
2) William Jasper KNOTT was born on Nov. 12, 1857, in Gibson County, TN. He died on May 16, 1929, in Gibson County, TN. He was buried in Shiloh Cemetery, near Bradford, Gibson County, TN. William "Bill" married Nancy Elizabeth Akin in Gibson County, Tennessee, in 1877.
After Bill was born, their next child was Elizabeth Knott (3). She was called Liz and Lizzie.
3) Elizabeth "Liz" KNOTT was born in the 1860s. She died between 1886 and 1895. She was buried probably in Shiloh Cemetery, near Bradford, Gibson County, TN. Lizzie married Robert F. "Bob" Akin in Gibson County, Tennessee, in 1879.
There was a small respite in the children as Green was in the war, but then Mary Knott (4) was born.
4) Mary KNOTT was born in the 1860s. She died in TN. She was buried in TN. There is a marriage record of a Mary Knott to a Mr. Fox in Gibson County, Tennessee, but I am not sure if this is the same Mary. It probably is.
After Mary came Nancy A. Knott (5).
5) Nancy A. KNOTT was born on Jan. 31, 1869, in Gibson County, TN. She died on Mar. 22, 1903, in Gibson County, Tennessee. She was buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Skullbone, Gibson County, TN. Nancy married William Pleasant Baker in Gibson County, Tennessee.
Following Nancy was the last of Green and Artilla's children, John Knott (6).
6) John KNOTT was born in 1873 in Gibson County, TN. He died in 1948 in TN. He was buried in Highland Cemetery, Greenfield, Weakley County, TN. John married Minnie Fox and they later moved to Weakley County.
After John's birth, there were no more children to Green and Artilla that are recorded. Artilla died in 1877.
William Green Knott took for his second wife Susan Jane Akin, sister to Robert F. Akin, and the daughter of George Archibald "Arch" Akin and Mary Angeline Rutledge. Green and Susan's first child was named Coleman W. Knott (7).
7) Coleman W. KNOTT was born on July 4, 1880, in Gibson County, TN. He died on Sept. 27, 1944, in Gibson County, TN. He was buried in Shiloh Cemetery, near Bradford, Gibson County, TN. Coleman married Mattie Victoria Sellers, but they had no children.
After Coleman came the last of William Green's children. Her name was Cora Angeline Knott (8).
8) Cora Angeline KNOTT was born in 1888 in Gibson County, TN. She died in 1923 in Gibson County, TN. She was buried in Shiloh Cemetery, Gibson County, TN. Cora married David Earl "Bud" Dowland.
HERE ARE SOME LINKS FOR PEOPLE TO CONTACT TO GET OR GIVE INFORMATION ON ANY OF THESE LINES:
For information on Preston Alford Knott, contact
For information on William Jasper Knott, contact
For information on Elizabeth Knott Akin, contact
For information on Nancy A. Knott Baker, contact
For information on Nancy A. Knott Baker, also contact
For information on Coleman W. Knott, contact
For information on Cora Angeline Knott Dowland, contactt
For information on the Sellers or Akin families of Gibson County, contact
Thank you for looking that the KNOTT family history page!