Nehemiah Knight (March 23, 1746June 13, 1808) was a

United States 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 ...

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 ...

. He was born in Knightsville (a village later named after him) within the town of Cranston in the

Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by Roger Williams. It was an English colony from 1636 until ...

. He attended the

common school A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary o ...

s, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and was

town clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a To ...

from 1773 to 1800. In 1783 and 1787 he was elected to the

Rhode Island General Assembly The State of Rhode Island General Assembly is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. A bicameral body, it is composed of the lower house, lower Rhode Island House of Representatives with 75 re ...

, and was

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

Providence County Providence County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 660,741, or 60.2% of the state's population. Providence County contains the city of Providence, the state capi ...

in 1787. Knight was elected 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 Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Congresses and served from March 4, 1803, until his death in Cranston in 1808; interment was in a small family cemetery now known as Cranston Historical Cemetery, number 21 in between 1757 and 1761 Cranston Street South of Phenix Avenue in the center of "Knightsville," Cranston, which is named for the family. Nehemiah was married in 1762 to Eleanor Rice Hudson (1746–1823). Their son,

Nehemiah Rice Knight Nehemiah Rice Knight (December 31, 1780April 18, 1854) was Governor of Rhode Island and United States Senator from Rhode Island. Born in Cranston, he attended the common schools. In 1802 he was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representat ...

(1780–1854), would later become the

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 ...

and even later a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

References

Politicians from Cranston, Rhode Island 1746 births 1808 deaths Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Rhode Island sheriffs Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island {{US-law-enforcement-bio-stub

See also

References