John L. Knighten - Just the Facts

Below I will share the undisputable factual information that I have heard or found on my own that I have documents to back up.  Ancestry.com has been my friend for most of this, but it also includes visits to the Morgan County Archives and trips to cemeteries.

I guess the "set in stone" record of John L. Knighten's life is his headstone at Ebenezer Cemetery, in Falkville, Alabama. 


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According to it, he was born on March 20th, 1849, and died on July 4th, 1933.  The first chronological record that I have found is the 1850 Census for District 27, Cherokee, Alabama.  He is the last entry on the page and listed in the household of Jeremiah (20) and Amanda (19) Nighten.  John would have been just around a year old when the census was taken.  The right bottom corner of the page is damaged, so not all of the information is legible.  In the column for race, no entries were made on the entire page, so it can be assumed that the census-taker was counting everyone as white.

1850 Census courtesy of Ancestry.com

The next record is the 1860 Federal Census for Calhoun County, Alabama.  According to it, he was living in the household of Jeremiah Knighten, who was 23.  John was 11.  Also listed in the household were Johann, female, 20, Sarohan (Sarah?), female, 1, and Malissa, female, 8.  I'm not sure what the deal was on Jeremiah's age.  He should have been 30 based on the 1850 census, unless there somehow were two Johns that were the same age, both living with Jeremiahs.  Also, Calhoun County isn't that far from Cherokee County, so that is not a issue in my opinion.  People move around.  Note again that no race is listed for anyone on the page.

1860 Census courtesy of Ancestry.com

There are stories of John L. Knighten serving as a courier for the Confederacy during the Civil War.  I can't substantiate this legend at the present, but I can say that there is a record of a PVT John L. Knighten in Company K of the 22nd Alabama Infantry Regiment.  According to the National Park Service Soldier and Sailor System the

22nd Infantry Regiment completed its organization at Montogmery, Alabama, in November, 1861, then moved to Mobile. Its companies were raised in the counties of Walker, Clarke, Cherokee, Mobile, Pike, Choctaw, Montgomery, Calhoun, and Randolph. The unit suffered severe losses at Shiloh under General Gladden, then saw action in Bragg's Kentucky Campaign under General Gardner. Later the 22nd was attached to Deas', G.D. Johnston's, and Brantley's Brigade, Army of Tennessee. It fought in many conflicts from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, was part of General Hood's winter operations in Tennessee, and ended the war in North Carolina. After the Battle of Shiloh, the regiment reported only 123 men fit for duty. It sustained 94 casualties at Murfreesboro, and lost fifty-three percent of the 371 engaged at Chickamauga. In December, 1863, it totalled 272 men and 171 arms. It reported 5 killed and 35 wounded in the fight at Ezra Church; many were also disabled at Franklin and Nashville. The regiment was included in the surrender on April 26, 1865. Its field officers were Colonels Zach C. Deas, B.R. Hart, John C. Marrast, and Harry T. Houlmin; Lieutenant Colonels E. Herbert Armistead, Napoleon B. Rouse, and John Weedon; and Majors Robert B. Armistead, Robert Donnell, and T.M. Prince.

Is it possible that John L. Knighten served during the Civil War?  Sure, but bear in mind that he would have only been twelve years old when the war started in 1861.  I'm just not sure what capacity that someone that young would have been able to serve in.

Now up to 1870.  The next record I have is John's marriage to Caroline Gipson on January 4th, 1870, in Morgan County, Alabama.  You may have noticed from the images that the spelling of Knighten is really fluid.  It bounces between Nighten, Nighton, Knighten, and Knighton.  In this instance, it was spelled Knighton.

Marriage license scanned from microfiche at Morgan County Archives

Now, the 1870 Census, John (20) and Caroline (17) are living in Basham's Gap, Morgan County, Alabama.  This is the first census where race has been recorded on the page.  Both John and Caroline are listed as white.  John's occupation is listed as farmer, and Caroline's as "keeping house".  The surname on this one was Niten.

1870 Census courtesy of Ancestry.com

This gets us up to the 1880 Census.  Apparently, John and Caroline had a lot of free time in the 1870s.  The following are children are now brought into the picture:

• Jeremiah Lafayette, male, 8
• Missouri Ann Adeline, female, 7
• Amanda "Mandy" Melissa, female, 5
• Sarah Francis, female, 3
• Mary Elizabeth, female, 1

1880 Census courtesy of Ancestry.com

Skipping over the 1890 Census, which was destroyed by fire, we get to the 1900 Census, where John and Co. are now living in Holmes Gap, Cullman County, Alabama.  This is still really close to where he has lived since getting married in 1870.  A lot has changed in the household since the 1880 Census:

• Loria Beatrice, female, 16
• Luria Zula, female, 16
• John Doss, male 13
• Thomas Grady, male, 11
• Wesley Harvey, male, 9
• Arzo Hampton, male, 7
• Lonzo Hamilton, male, 7

Personally, I can't imagine being 50 years old and having two sets of twins at home.  Hopefully, the older kids that had already moved of helped out some.

1900 Census courtesy of Ancestry.com

The 1910 Census shows John living at Nunn's Mill in Morgan County, Alabama.  At 59 years old, he still has a house full of kids:

• Wesley Harvey, male, 18
• Arzo Hampton, male, 16
• Lonzo Hamilton, male 16

Also, if interest to me, is that when I look up the page, I see another ancestor, William Smith Blevins, whom the census-taker had apparently stopped to visit a few houses prior.

1910 Census courtesy of Ancestry.com

It appears that by the 1920 Census, John and Carline had moved to Eva, Morgan County, Alabama, with their daughter Missouri, and her husband, Grant Morgan.  Grant and Missouri had quite a family of their own by that time.

1920 Census courtesy of Ancestry.com

The last Census to document John L. Knighten was the 1930 Census.  He was still living with Missouri, and by that time two of her grand-children were living there as well.

1930 Census courtesy of Ancestry.com

Our last record takes us back to the first, the headstone tells us that he passed away on July 4th, 1933.