Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-04-14

ton 60 America and Life Of seeiu
sion In the Woods.
From the Davenport Qowsl eazstse.
| An old settler, one whose career
Is the strangest among the hundreds
OF old settlers, has passed away.
For many years he has led 50 Sc
cluded life that we presume neatly
all of his acquaintances hereabouts
long ago lost thought of him, or il
they have remembered him at all i
has been with the supposition tha
he was far away from here, and pos
sibly dead.
We allude to William knight. He
came to this country from England,
and settled in Davenport, nearly
thirty years ago. He was an attor-
ney; had practieed law in London
for years, and was a very able man.
His family connections in the old
country were all highly respectable
people. He hung out his sign here
and in Rockingham, and soon built
up quite practice, such as it was.
He was finely educated man, pos
sessed q very retentiYe memory,
was kindly in disposition, OF
pleasing address and Of social ma
ture. So it was no wonder that he
became popular among the people.
All at once, when he was looked
upon as a rising man, when his
prospects were brightest, he dropped
out of society, and was soon Gas
though he were one dead" The
secret of that retirement to a lonely
cabin in the woods is known to but
few, but now that he is dead, there
can be no harm in publishing it.
When Knight left England it was
without the knowledge Of his rela
tiYes there. He arrived at New
York and Immediately pushed for
the far west, and Davenport was
about as far west as men cared to
go in those days. His friends in
England supposed that he had gone
to America, and advertised descrip
tions of him, and offers of good re-
wards for tidings of his where
abOuts. For years their efforts were
fruitless. But at last they took an
other course, which led to success
Knight possessed a heavy gold
watch, ofvery peculiar construction.
Descriptions of this watch were sent
to the watch dealers in the principal
cities in America, with instructions
for close investigation as to the
owner, if it ever came into their
hands. Well Knights watch got out
of order. There was nobody here
who could repair it. Accordingly,
he sent it to Philadelphia and, as
luck would have it, to an establish
ment in which a description of the
watch was posted. The proprietor
wrote to London parties that he had
received the watch. Over to this
country as soon as the ocean winds
would let them, came knights
friends, making their way to Daven
port as rapidly as the meagre faciliN
ties would allow. They found the
runaway. They held conference
after conference with him, to induce
his return to England. They re-
sorted to strategy, and endesvored
taSfGurf.hsa restforsome offence,
oner. All in vain. And they babe
him farewell with sad hearts, and re-
turned to their native land.
And Knight! From that time
forward until his death, on Sunday
last, he was q changed man. He
bought small farm near RockiDg>
ham, heavily wooded tract, erected
a sort of shanty in the forest, and
there, alone, with no companions
but his pipe, books and papers, he
spent his time. He received papers
from England regularly, and loved
to read of new and noted books and
their authors. He cooked his own
food, washed his own clothes, cut
his own wood, and was his own
servant generally. He rarely re-
ceived callers. Grant & Smith were
his agents, for he was in receipt of
a little income, and either one Of
the firm, or messenger, was always
welcome-but nobody else was.
His cabin had q rough interiors;
bed in one corner, a table in the
middle of the floor, one or two
chairs, and a trunk constituting its
furniture. A fireplace that would
admit cord-wood, gave him warmth
and enabled him 10 cook his food.
Sometimes he would be seized with
letter writing-fit, and a letter to
his lawyers every dsy for fortnight
would be the result-an answer be-
ing expected by him as fully as
though the matter of correspond
ence was of the utmost importance.
And thus he lived the life of a her
nit, save in relation to his attor-
neys alone.
Two years ago knight was seized
with govt, and was so afflicted as to
be scarcely able to move. Quarters
were provided for him at the house
of Bernard Hebrick, on the Locust
street road, two miles west Of Brady
street, where he was well taken care
of until Sunday, the 4th inst, when
he died, having just passed the sew
enty-fourth anniversary Of his birth
day.
Why he, who was so gifted byna>
ture and so splendidly educated,
chose to abandon his luxurious
home and wealthy friends, make bis
way to the American wilds for a
residence, and then, when discovered
by his friends, resort to the life OF
hermit, and be content with it for
twenty or more years, is explained
only by an inadvertant admission
in one of his letters to his legal
| friends, wherein he admits having
been hopelessly cast down by disap-
pointment in a love affair - he
wooed, won, and lost a lovely
English girl--lost her because she
preferred a "belted knight" and a
castle to g young barrister, who,
being a younger son, had to make
his own way to fortune and to fame.
On the oath of February, 1S49, the
first steamship that ever arrived ct San
Francisco entered that harbor at the END
Of har trir aronnd the Horn Whose OF