Henry Harrison Knight Among Earliest Teachers in Berrien County

November 20, 2010 at 10:24 am (Education In the Wiregrass, Knight Family)
Tags: General Levi J. Knight, Henry B. Peeples, Henry Harrison Knight, John Knight, Jonathan D. Knight, L.E. Lastinger, Lacy E. Lastinger, Martin Miller, Ray City GA, Ray's Mill, Sarah Moore

Henry Harrison Knight,circa 1896, located at Ray’s Mill, holding Levi, Jr.

Henry Harrison Knight is a well documented historical figure of  Ray City, GA.  He was born on November 17, 1840 in that part of Lowndes County which was later cut into Berrien County.  His father was John Knight and his mother was Sarah “Sallie” Moore.  “His father, John Knight, had held various county offices during his lifetime and died in 1876. Henry’s education was limited to that of the common schools of the county.”  His uncle, General Levi J. Knight, organized the first Civil War unit to go forth from Berrien County, the Berrien Minute Men.

Henry Knight, himself, was a Confederate veteran, statesman, civil servant, and merchant.

A recently encountered news clipping from the 1956 Berrien County Centennial edition of the Nashville Herald, gives testimony that Henry Harrison Knight was also among the early educators in Berrien County.  In his day, however, the role of teacher may have been more of a community service than an occupation.

Although modern American usage of the word is restricted almost exclusively as a verb, the online dictionary gives a definition of the word “found” as a noun:

found -noun .

something that is provided or furnished without charge, esp. meals given a domestic: Maid wanted, good salary and found.

 

Consider then, this note from the Herald’s centennial history  about the early educators of Berrien County:

First Teachers in Berrien County Paid in “Found”
      In the early history of Berrien county education was eagerly sought by parents for their young, and making an impress upon the minds and hears of what are now, the older citizens, were the early teachers who taught the various schools around the county.
     Among these were Martin Miller, Jonathan D. Knight, Lacy E. Lastinger, W. H. Griffin, Henry H. Knight, Henry B. Peeples.
    These men taught in the little one room log house schools and were often paid in “found.”

Henry Berryman Peeples (1849-1909), son of Henry Thompson Peeples and nephew of Richard A. Peeples, was one of the early teachers in Berrien County, GA

Related Posts:

• Posting Mail at Ray City
• More on the 1887 Family Feud at Rays Mill, GA
• Death of Henry Harrison Knight, July 19, 1898
• David Jackson Rigell ~ First Postmaster of Ray’s Mill? Maybe Not!