As told in previous posts, Maria Antonieta Poblete (or Poblette) was the first wife of Owen Adrian Knight, of Ray City, GA. They were married on September 5, 1917 in El Paso, Texas while Owen Adrian Knight was serving in the Army at Ft. Bliss, El Paso TX during World War I. (See Ray City Love Story Told by Betty M. Williams)
Maria Antonietta Poblette, novelty postcard, 1917, El Paso, TX taken just days after her marriage to Owen Adrian Knight.
In 1919 just before being discharged from the Army, Adrian Knight apparently told his wife that his unit was shipping out to France. Then he disappeared for parts unknown.
When his parents, Walter and Jimmie Knight, learned of Adrian’s abandonment of Maria Antonietta and his two young sons they sent her money to travel from her home in Mexico to Ray City, GA. In Adrian’s absence, ”Toni,” as she was known to the Knights, lived with the Knight family. In the summer of 1922, she attended college at Georgia State Womans College, now known as Valdosta State University. In those days, married women were only allowed to attend during the summer session.
While in Georgia, Maria worked as an art teacher at the Ray City School. Family members say, “She was artistic in many ways, her voice was beautiful and she played the piano by ear as well as by reading music.”
After about four years of waiting for Adrian’s return, the abandoned and heartbroken Maria returned to Mexico with her two sons. She was divorced from Adrian Knight and later married Desmond Mangum.
Painting by Marie Antoinette Poblette
