Armanis F. Knotts (c. 1860-October 3, 1937), also called A.F. Knotts, was an American politician and lawyer. He was a member of the

Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House memb ...

and was instrumental in the foundings of both

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the ...

and

Yankeetown, Florida Yankeetown is a town in Levy County, Florida, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 588. History Yankeetown was founded in 1923 by the Indiana politician and lawyer Armanis F. Knotts, who moved to the area because of his great ...

Biography

Knotts was born in

Highland County, Ohio Highland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,317. Its county seat is Hillsboro. The county is named for the topography which is hilly and divides the watersheds of the Little Mia ...

on either February 29, 1860Ball, 1904 or January 29, 1856 to Frank D. and Margaret (Bell) Knotts. His father was a farmer and carpenter from Pennsylvania, and his mother, a native of Ohio, was the daughter of an early Irish settler of Ohio. In 1868, the Knotts family moved to Indiana, settling in Medaryville in Pulaski County where he grew up working on the family farm and attending first the local district schools and then Valparaiso University. In 1870, his mother died, and his father married a woman named Jennie Yates. In 1884, Knotts married Mary Hennessey. In the lates 1880s, after spending several years teaching, Knotts enrolled in a law course at Valparaiso. During his studies, he was elected to be the county surveyor of Porter County. He held the office for eighteen months, from 1887 until 1888, then resigned after graduating from the law course. In 1888, he moved to

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...

, where he set up a law practice. He quickly became involved in local politics, and was a strong supporter of the idea of giving Hammond a harbor on Wolf Lake to connect with Lake Michigan, earning the nickname "Harbor Knotts" for his zeal.Howat, 1915 He was elected to the

in 1898 as the joint representative of

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

and

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

counties. As a legislator, he ensured the passage of the Circuit Court bill, which elevated the Superior Court of Hammond to the same level as the Circuit Court, and provided for the building of a new Superior Court House in Hammond. He served one term and then was elected mayor of Hammond from 1902 to 1904. While serving as mayor, he worked on bringing new industries into Hammond. Armanis and his brother,

Thomas Knotts Thomas Elwood Knotts (1861–1921) was the first mayor of the city of Gary, Indiana, serving from 1909 to 1913, after having previously served as head of the Gary town board from 1906 to 1909. He was also Gary's first postmaster. His business ...

, were also heavily involved in the development of the city of

. In 1905, the

United States Steel Corporation United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...

decided to open a new plant in the Midwest, and chose the current site of Gary for its location. They hired Armanis to act as their lawyer, and he worked to purchase the land for the mill, acting surreptitiously so as not to drive up prices.Lane, 1978 Soon afterwards the Gary Land Company was set up in order to lay out the town and supervise its construction, with Knotts as its manager.Moore, 1959 In 1923, Knotts moved to Florida and founded the town of Yankeetown.

Legacy

In 1975, Armanis's nephew Eugene Knotts opened the A. F. Knotts Library in Yankeetown, Florida in honor of his uncle.

Notes

References

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External links

A. Frank Knotts - Uncle A.F. and the Early Residents of Yankeetown
Information on the founding of Yankeetown
Armanis F. Knotts collection, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knotts, Armanis F. 1860s births 1937 deaths Republican Party members of the Indiana House of Representatives Valparaiso University alumni People from Highland County, Ohio People from Pulaski County, Indiana People from Hammond, Indiana American people of Irish descent Indiana lawyers American city founders