KNOWLES PROGENITOR BIOGRAPHIES
Samuel Lihu KNOWLES (1797 - 1887)
Knowles Progenitor: ENGLAND-02 (Nottinghamshire)
(based on research and articles by descendents)
Y-DNA Profile (Allele
Values) for
Samuel Lihu Knowles &
his Direct Line Male Descendants
(12 Marker Haplotype) (Haplogroup
is: results are pending)
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KNOWLES NORTH CAROLINA
PROGENITOR #18 (Wake Co.) Samuel Lihu Knowles (1797 - 1887) |
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| Marker # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Haplo
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| DYS # | 393 | 390 | 19 | 391 | 385a | 385b | 426 | 388 | 439 | 389-1 | 392 | 389-2 | |
| Modal | |||||||||||||
NOTE: Test results are pending
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SAMUEL LIHU KNOWLES Samuel Lihu Knowles was born of parents who had fled Ireland before his birth. It seems that his father disappeared from the scene and Samuel was reared by his mother and her two sisters who he also called 'Mother'. His mother was probably named Mary and his two aunts named Emma & Jane. At an early age he was an apprentice to a pinmaker and probably received little or no formal education. At the age of 18 he enlisted in the British Army and served under Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo against Napoleon. On December 22, 1815, Samuel married Elizabeth Providence Johnson. Elizabeth was born October 9, 1796 on board the British Man of War "Providence" on the South Atlantic Ocean. It is said that her father was the Captain of the ship. Her parents were John and Ann Lowe Johnson. In the Spring of 1820, part of the family, if not all, was crossing the Atlantic to America. A story is told that Samuel and a cousin (unnamed) had stowed away on a ship earlier and came to America. When he got situated, Samuel sent for Elizabeth and the two children. The family first settled in Alexandria, Virginia, where their third child was born. Two years later (1823) they were in Spotsylvania where another son arrived. In 1825. they were in Perry Co., Tennessee. Another child was born there. In 1829-1831, they were in Henderson Co., Tennessee. Two more children were born during these years. From 1832 to 1834 they were in Hardeman Co., Tennessee, where two more sons were born. In 1836, the Chickasaw lands of north Mississippi were opened for sale. Samuel and his family arrived in Mississippi about this time. He bought a section of land (Sec. 21 T7 R5E) in Pontotoc County and became a fairly prosperous planter. He owned slaves and had his own cotton gin. The deed book of old Tishomingo County shows that he also owned land which he and Elizabeth sold in the late 1840s. The Civil War ruined the economy of the South, and Samuel was not one who escaped the ravages of the War and the Reconstruction. Besides having his whole way of life disrupted, two of his sons were killed in the war. This Knowles family must have been good to their slaves for the 1870 Census showed a former slave woman and her three children as members of the Knowles household. Samuel also bought land in Hamilton Co., Texas, which he still owned at the time he drew up his will in 1884. Elizabeth died December 6, 1852 and was buried in the Camp Creek Cemetery in Pontotoc (now Lee) Co., Mississippi. The children of Benjamin and Elizabeth were:
Samuel married 2nd, Mary Ann Hardin born in 1823 in Hardin Co., Tennessee. They married in 1853 in Tippah Co., Mississippi. Samuel died in 1887 at the age of 90 years and one month. Mary died in 1901. Mary was a member of the Camp Creek Baptist Church for 42 years. Samuel and his two wives were buried in the Camp Creek Church Cemetery. The children of Benjamin and Mary were:
Benjamin Lihu Knowles (1834 - 1925) (son of Samuel Lihu Knowles) Benjamin Lihu Knowles was the founder of the city, Knowles in Lea Co., New Mexico. The spring at Monument, New Mexico had brought men together in the Llano's (Taos County) first community. A general store and post office accomplished the same ends further east on the plains and led to the growth of present Lea County's second, and for a number of years, largest city, Knowles. ("Lea, New Mexico's Last Frontier") [Knowles Pub #228] Article 251 in
"Then & Now - Lea Co., New Mexico
Families", Vol. #1, Knowles, New Mexico was named for my grandfather, Benjamin Liker Knowles, who was born and raised in Mississippi and who came to New Mexico in the early 1890s. Benjamin came to that area of Lea County when it was only desert country; homesteaded; and lived in a dugout until he finally got a house, one-room, built. He put in a store there with provisions and other articles that the few people had to have. Benjamin had a post office which was called the Knowles Post Office. Benjamin was married to Mary Matilda Kellogg (in 1852). He died at the age of 92 and is buried at his old house in Texas. His wife lived to be 70 years old and is buried in the Knowles Cemetery in Lea County. Benjamin had a son, R. B. "Rube" Knowles who built and owned the telephone line from Lovington to Carlsbad. Rube had two sons, Winfred and Whit, who rode the line horseback and kept it up. Rube was a rancher and owned a general merchandise store in Monument. He left Monument in 1914 and bought the 5 Cross Ranch in Lakewood, New Mexico. Rube Knowles had seven boys and three girls. The boys were named: Winford, Whit, Wes, Bill, Walter, John and Buster; the girls were: Ruby (the author of this article), Marie and Georgia Lee. Mother said she had so many children she assigned my brother, Walter, to me to take care of. Rube Knowles was a very active, healthy man who did not believe in doctors. He was the 'doctor' for our family until we all got married and began to believe in doctors. Rube died at the age of 101 (in 1965) and is buried in Artesia beside his wife, Mary Elizabeth. She died young, at only 54 years of age. I, Ruby, have two sons and one daughter: Douglas Glen O'Bannon, who is a rancher at Del Norte, Colorado; Mary Frances O'Bannon who is living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. G. W. is a rug dealer who owns his store and makes yearly trips to the Orient for a new supply of oriental rugs. He has also written a book on those rugs and the people who weave them.
Sylvia (Knowles) Thornton & Georgia (Thornton) Campbell (granddaughter of Samuel Lihu Knowles) Article 252 in "Then & Now - Lea Co., New Mexico
Families", Vol. #1,
Benjamin Lihu Knowles and his wife, Mary had a daughter, Sylvia (Knowles) Thornton. In the cold winter of 1906, Sylvia and her little daughter, Georgia, arrived in New Mexico to visit her parents. Mary was very ill at that time after having a stroke. Georgia, Benjamin's granddaughter, remembers little about her grandmother except that they lived in a dug-out, which was the first time the small girl had ever seen this type of housing. Georgia had two sisters and a brother, and all three stayed in Texas when her mother moved to New Mexico in 1910. Her two sisters were already married and her brother was established in May, Texas. When they moved to Knowles, New Mexico in 1910. Georgia was then old enough to remember more about the trip. By that time, her grandmother, Mary, had died, and Georgia and her mother, Sylvia, stayed with her grandfather and made their home with him. Benjamin L. Knowles had "come up in the world" and had moved one mile south, which was then called New Knowles and by the time had the house rather than the dugout. He had also acquired the wagon yard, feed store, and grocery store. The telephone switchboard was in his house and Sylvia took care of all calls. Georgia can remember the bank, hotel and saloon which were just a short distance from their residence. She recalls the fighting, shooting, and arguing coming from the saloon. It was an awesome place for a small girl and she was not allowed to walk down that side of the street. The Knowles school which she attended was about a quarter mile north of the house. Georgia's grandfather had an old piano shipped out for his little granddaughter to play; and although she never became the accomplished pianist he had hoped she would, he at least tried to cultivate some culture in the little western pioneer community. Any of the children living nearby were encouraged to 'practice' on Georgia's piano. Georgia grew up, attended school and learned to enjoy the many socials around the community and acquired a love for people that can hardly be surprised. She never met a stranger and could always see only the good side of people. She married Mack Campbell, when she was a young girl of seventeen. He was a handsome, debonair man of forty-four. He had worked hard, saved his money, and somehow through his ranching activities had afforded a new Buick roadster. Of course, this was the first car Georgia had ridden in and it is debatable as to whether the car or Mack was the most appealing. Sylvia's other daughter, Emma, now Mrs. Emma White, who lives in Carlsbad is very prominent in politics and presided for some time as probate judge in Carlsbad. After Georgia married Mack Campbell they settled on his ranch, which was near Monument known as the Cooper Ranch today and started their family. They relocated on a larger ranch near Carlsbad, where all five of their children were raised. Their children are: John Mack Campbell who died in 1951; George Ralph Campbell who died in 1957; Charles Raymond Campbell; Sylvia "Janie" Webber-Sumruld; and Norma Jo Smith. They moved to Hobbs in 1960, at which time Mack's health was failing. After his death, Georgia continued to live in Hobbs, but with the help of her son, Charlie and son-in-law, Leroy Sumruld, still operates the Campbell Ranch. [by Janie Sumruld, c 1975]
Walter Benjamin Knowles (1903 - 1946) (great grandson of Samuel Lihu Knowles) Article #216 in "Then & Now - Lea Co., New Mexico
Families", Vol. #1, c 1975 Walter Benjamin Knowles, a grandson of Benjamin Lihu Knowles for whom the town of Knowles (Lea Co., New Mexico) was named, was born blind. There were seven boys, and three girls in our family: Winford, Whit, Wes, Bill, Walter, John, Buster, Ruby, Marie and Georgia Lee. My mother said she had so many children that she assigned my brother, Walter to me to take care of. Doctors in Dallas said Walter did not have eyesight, only a 'scum' over the eye, but he was a happy youngster. Most all his brothers he could whip or fight his way with them, even all of them at once. He was the center of attraction wherever he went. Our Dad took him in a buggy to Alamogordo to go to school at the New Mexico Institute for the Blind, where he graduated a scholar. On the way in the buggy Dad would let him sit down front and hold the reins to drive. One incident, on a very dangerous road from Cloudcroft to Alamogordo, Dad got out and led the horses and left brother and me in the buggy. Brother was not at all excited, buy Ruby still trembles when she recalls the time and place. Walter held the reins and always told about how he made the trip to Alamogordo safely by holding the reins. He was about six years-old at the time (c 1909). Walter preferred music to all his talents. He organized a dance orchestra and played for dances all around the area. After he married Mary B. Kimbrough, he lived in Artsia. He taught her to play the violin, and he could play all instruments. In the violin contests he was always the winner. He had the perfect touch on the piano. He taught his nephew, Douglas A. Benson, to play popular music and he was the pianist in the orchestra. Douglas still enjoys the piano and it reminds us all of Walter and his music. Walter was always full of fun and humor. His pet peeve was for different people to 'lead' him, as he called it. They would grab him and push him along. If they had only realized enough to let him hold on to their arm, he could have gotten along better. To anyone extending his sympathy for his blindness, he would quickly reply, "Do you want to learn to fly?" "Of course not," they would say. He would say, "Well, what would I do with eyesight?" He never failed to remember a voice if he heard it once. Many surprises were told by many of his acquaintances and friends. With his cane he could get around fine alone if he knew the place. Walter was a piano tuner also. Those who did not know he was blind would bring a better light for him to see by. He never told them he was blind. He had fun letting them find out the hard way. Walter always had something to do, even helped bale hay once by stacking the bales. No one could stack a neater stack than he could. At an all-night dance and barbecue at the Dru Taylor Ranch at Maljamar once, a man who did not know Walter was blind took him down to the windmill several yards away. He didn't take hold of Walter as he should have, so Walter stumbled and almost fell. The man said to Walter (cuss word attached), "I believe you're as drunk as I am." Walter loved to tell stories like that. Walter passed away in 1946 of a heart attack. He always enjoyed life and accepted his blindness beautifully. It would have been great if someone had written a book on his life. [Ruby (Knowles) O'Bannon, c 1975]
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