Sarah Kemble Knight

Sarah Kemble Knight (April 19, 1666 – September 25, 1727) was a teacher and businesswoman, who is remembered for her diary of a journey from Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, to New York City, Province of New York, in 1704–1705, a courageous adventure for a woman to undertake.

She was born in Boston, to Thomas Kemble and Elizabeth Trerice.^{[citation needed]} In 1689, Sarah married Richard Knight; they had one child, Elizabeth. Having been left a widow, in middle life she opened a school, which gained some reputation in Boston and included amongst its students Benjamin Franklin.^{[citation needed]} Before opening this school, Madam Knight, as she was generally called, in 1704 took a journey on horseback from Boston to New York City, an unparalleled feat for a woman.^{[citation needed]} She recounted her experiences in the "journals" that have made her known to students of American Colonial literature and history.^{[citation needed]} The small diary of her Boston–New York journey was first published, posthumously, in 1825, by Theodore Dwight.^{[citation needed]} The Journal of Madam Knight has subsequently been reprinted by others with additional biographical information.^{[citation needed]}

Her journal remains noteworthy both for its larger-than-life central character (Knight) and its telling of a trying journey not normally undertaken by a woman.^[1] The discomforts of primitive traveling are described with much sprightliness and not a little humor.^{[citation needed]} Despite its uniqueness, its authenticity has been contested.^{[citation needed]} Dwight stated that, after the publication of his volume, the manuscript was unfortunately burned.^{[citation needed]} Furthermore, much of it had been in shorthand and never translated.^{[citation needed]}

In 1714, Knight's daughter married John Livingston, of Connecticut, and Madam Knight moved with them to New London, where she continued her business and land dealings.^{[citation needed]} When she died in 1727, she left her daughter a very large estate, attesting to her shrewdness and skill as a businessperson.^{[citation needed]}

Sarah Kemble Knight is buried at Ye Antientist Burial Ground, New London.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Waisman, Charlotte S.; Jill S. Tietjen (2008). Her Story. Collins. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-06-124651-7. 

External links

• Sarah Kemble Knight - From Annenberg Media Learner.org
• Sarah Kemble Knight - From Houghton Mifflin The Heath Anthology of American Literature
• "Wee made Good speed along" - Boston Businesswoman Sarah Knight Travels From Kingston to New London, 1704.

This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.

Persondata
Name	Knight, Sarah Kemble
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1666
Place of birth
Date of death	1727
Place of death