He was born on Nov. 1861 somewhere in Louisiana and died on Feb. 24, 1937 in Emerson, Arkansas. According to the Census and Death Certificate, his parents are written as "unknown".
He married Ollie Hill and had 12 known children between 1878 to 1905 by her. He later divorced Ollie and had 2 more later by Kate (Unknown) in 1911 and 1913 out of wedlock..
His occupation was a general farmer, possibly of cotton and corn.
He now lies somewhere in Pine Hill Cemetery CME, without a tombstone.
The first theory is that he was adopted or sold as a child during infancy. This explains why Alfred McKnight could not give the birth state of his parents in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, it can be determined that he could not remember his parents because he was too youg. It was also common in Louisiana to be separated from the family during slavery.
The second theory is that Alfred McKnight was born a slave to H. M. M. McKnight of Natchitoches, Louisiana. H. M. M. McKnight was a wealthy farmer who own around 50 to 65 slaves of all ages. This evidents was found through the 1860 slave schedule of H. M. M. McKnight who owned a plantation. Although ulikely, it is possible that Alfred McKnight adopted the McKnight name from his master. Given that Alfred would have been around 5 to 7 years of age it is a possibility. It is also known that some slave were sold and taken away from there family without knowning their surname (last name) and were not revealed it until the were emancipated. (To read more on African American "surnames" scroll down to the bottom of this page)
The third theory, which is "the unofficial claim", is that he was the son of Richard "Rich" McKnight and Sarah McKnight of Tennessee, who lived at Quitman, Texas in Wood County. According to the 1870 U.S. Census Richard "Rich" and Sarah McKnight had a son named and spelled
Alferd McKinght who was born in 1860. Quitman, Texas is basically lateral to Haynesville and Homer, Louisiana and less than 160 miles (not highway miles) away. Alfred McKnight could have traveled to Louisiana around 1877 when he got old enough and married his wife.
It is believed that Alfred came from Claiborne Parish, Haynesville, Louisiana and settled in Columbia County, Arkansas around 1889. This is based off of his daughter Daisy McKnight and son-in-law Charles Cooper's Marriage License showing what city in Louisiana he may have come from. Also, his son, Tom McKnight had claim to have been born of this city on his Social Security Card.
The Arkansas settlement is estimated to be 1889 due to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. The Census shows that Alfred's first five children were born in Louisiana before 1889 and his last nine children were born after 1889 in Arkansas. I may have come up with a better conclusion of this information, but unfortunately most of the 1890 U.S. Census were destroyed or badly damaged by a fire in the Commerce Department in 1921, and only less than one percent of the 1890 census survived.
It is also difficult to explain what town he settled in Columbia County, Arkansas. There is record of his family living in black communities of Cypress Fork and Dink Town in Moss township, which is all boxed in between highway 79, highway 19, highway 98, and the Louisiana / Arkansas line. Today, the area is refered to as Emerson. Emerson, Arkansas is located 6 miles from Louisiana, on U.S. Hwy 79 and was founded by Reuben Logan Emerson in 1905.
She was born in Louisiana on Mar. 1863 and is the daughter of George Hill from Alabama. It is also known by a family member that she had a sister named Emma who lived in Homer, Louisiana.
After her divorce from Alfred McKnight she later married Tom Jones on Aug. 10, 1919.
She now lies somewhere in Kings Hill Cemetery.
Ollie / Wife / Black / Female / Mar. / 1863 / Married
The assumption that African Americans used the same surname (last name) as their owners is not always true. William Still's book on the Underground Railroad shows that, of the first 210 successful runaways, 84% had different surnames than the owners they had fled.
While runaways may not have been typical of the general population of African American, records from as early as 1720 indicate that slaves often had surnames different than their owner's names. Certainly, post-Civil War records document that ex-slaves had surnames different than the names of their most recent owners; it is possible many ex-slaves chose new names and identifications when they were emancipated."
