Nehemiah Rice Knight (December 31, 1780April 18, 1854) was Governor of Rhode Island and

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. Born in Cranston, he attended the common schools. In 1802 he was a member of the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is composed of 75 members, elected t ...

; he moved to

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

and was clerk of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

from 1805 to 1811 and clerk of the circuit court from 1812 to 1817. He was also collector of

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

for the same period. He was the ninth

Governor of Rhode Island The governor of Rhode Island is the head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, o ...

from 1817 to 1821 and president of the Roger Williams Bank from 1817 to 1854. Knight was elected in 1821 as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

James Burrill, Jr. James Burrill Jr. (April 25, 1772 – December 25, 1820) was a Federalist-party United States senator representing the state of Rhode Island. He served in the senate from 1817 until 1820. He graduated from the College of Rhode Island and Provi ...

; he was reelected in 1823 as a Crawford Republican, in 1829 as an

Anti-Jacksonian The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...

, and again in 1835 as a Whig, and served from January 9, 1821, to March 3, 1841. While in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses (Twenty-second, Twenty-third and Twenty-sixth Congresses) and a member of the Committee on Manufactures (Twenty-fourth Congress). Knight retired from public life and was a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1843. He died in Providence in 1854; interment was in

Grace Church Grace Church may refer to: Canada * Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto China * Grace Church, Guanghan Poland * Grace Church, Teschen or Jesus Church, a Lutheran basilica in Teschen, Poland United Kingdom United States * Grace Cathedral (disam ...

Cemetery. Nehemiah Rice Knight's father,

Nehemiah Knight Nehemiah Knight (March 23, 1746June 13, 1808) was a United States representative from Rhode Island. He was born in Knightsville (a village later named after him) within the town of Cranston in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantat ...

, had been a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from Rhode Island.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Nehemiah R. 1780 births 1854 deaths Politicians from Cranston, Rhode Island American people of English descent Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from Rhode Island National Republican Party United States senators from Rhode Island Whig Party United States senators from Rhode Island Rhode Island Democratic-Republicans Rhode Island National Republicans Rhode Island Whigs Governors of Rhode Island Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Burials in Rhode Island