William Knight (December 7, 1843 – January 13, 1941), often referred to as Wm. Knight, was a businessman from Bayfield,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, involved at one time or another as a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

, in lumbering,

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

, selling

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

, and

orchardist An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

, who served one term as a Republican member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

Background and early years

Knight was born December 7, 1843, on a farm in

Kent County, Delaware Kent County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851, making it the least populous county in Delaware. The county seat is Dover, the state capital of Delaware. It i ...

, near

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

.A Joint Resolution Relating to the Life and Public Service of William Knight.
1941. ''Wisconsin Session Laws''. Madison, p. 606. Until the age of twelve, he attended his local

public schools Public school may refer to: *State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England and ...

. At that time, he switched to academies in

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

and then Dover, followed by two years at the

Hudson River Institute Claverack College, also known as Washington Seminary and Hudson River Institute, was a coeducational boarding school in Claverack, New York, United States. It was in operation from 1779 until 1902. History The school was founded as the Washingto ...

Claverack, New York Claverack is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 6,021 at the 2010 census. The town name is a corruption for the Dutch word “Klaverakker” for "Clover Fields" or "Clover Reach". In 1705, the first discovery ...

. After leaving school, he moved to

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, where he worked as a clerk at a mustering and disbursement office of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

government. He left Detroit in 1867, going first to St. Louis, then to

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

(where he operated as a merchant). He left there in 1869, coming to Bayfield, where he settled (except for a year in Ashland, spending most of the ensuing decades in the banking and lumbering trades. By 1910, he had shifted to selling real estate and developing fruit orchards.

Public office

Knight had already served on his

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

board and his county board of supervisors, as well as

county clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

and

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

(appointed to fill a vacancy in 1896) of Bayfield County, Wisconsin when he was elected in 1910 to represent the Assembly seat for Bayfield,

Sawyer *A sawyer (occupation) is someone who saws wood. *Sawyer, a fallen tree stuck on the bottom of a river, where it constitutes a danger to boating. Places in the United States Communities *Sawyer, Kansas *Sawyer, Kentucky * Sawyer, Michigan * Saw ...

and

Washburn Washburn (alternatively Wasseburne, Wasseborne, Wasshebourne, Wassheborne, Washbourne, Washburne, Washborne, Washborn, Wasborn, Washbon) is a toponymic surname, probably of Old English origin, with likely Anglo-Norman and Norman-French influen ...

counties. A Republican, he received 2,558 votes to 355 for Social Democrat H. Johnson (Republican incumbent Frank Hammill was not a candidate). He was assigned to the standing committee on

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

s, and the joint committee on

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

. His Assembly district was divided up in the 1911

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

of the Assembly, and he was not a candidate for re-election. In his home county of Bayfield (now its own district), he was succeeded by Hubert Peavey, a self-described

Progressive Republican The Republican Party in the United States includes several factions, or wings. During the 19th century, Republican factions included the Half-Breeds, who supported civil service reform; the Radical Republicans, who advocated the immediate and to ...

Orchardist

Knight was a member of the Bayfield Peninsula Horticultural Society and a

life member Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

of the Wisconsin State Horticultural Society, although as an orchardist he described himself as "a layman in this business." He was an avid advocate of orchard fruit growing in Bayfield County's "Fruit District." He was honored by the Wisconsin Horticultural Society for his achievements in 1930. Knight died at

Dousman, Wisconsin Dousman is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,419 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Dousman has been in operation since 1856. Founded in 1881, the village was named for Talbot C. Dousman, ...

on January 13, 1941.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, William (Wisconsin politician) American bankers American merchants American orchardists Businesspeople from Wisconsin County supervisors in Wisconsin Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Bayfield, Wisconsin People from Kent County, Delaware 1843 births 1941 deaths Claverack College alumni Farmers from Wisconsin