J. Proctor Knott

J. Proctor Knott was born in Raywick, Kentucky, on August 29, 1830. He was the son of Joseph Percy and Maria Irvine (McElroy) Knott. He was tutored by his father from an early age, and later attended public school in Marion and Shelby counties. In 1846, he began to study law. In May 1850, he relocated to Memphis, Missouri, where he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in 1851. He also served in the offices of the circuit court and county clerks. Knott married Mary E. Forman on November 17, 1852. Forman died during the birth of the couple's first child in August 1853. On January 14, 1858, Knott married his cousin, Sarah R. McElroy. ==Political career==

Knott's political career began in 1857 when he was elected to represent Scotland County in the Missouri House of Representatives. He was re-elected to a second term, but did not stand for re-election in 1870. In the speech, Knott singled out the proposed Bayfield and St. Croix Railroad's proposed line from the St. Croix River to Duluth, Minnesota to make his point. In 1871, Knott made an unsuccessful bid to become governor of Kentucky, losing the Democratic nomination to Preston Leslie. He was re-elected to the House of Representatives in 1875, serving four consecutive terms. In the general election, Knott defeated Republican Thomas Z. Morrow by a margin of nearly 45,000 votes. The legislature approved the construction of the Kentucky State Penitentiary at Eddyville, but it was Knott's predecessor, Luke P. Blackburn, who laid most of the groundwork for this project. ==Later life and death==

Following his term as governor, Knott continued his legal practice in Frankfort. He declined two separate appointments offered to him by President Grover Cleveland. The first was to become Territorial Governor of Hawaii; the other was an appointment to the Interstate Commerce Commission. Knott served as a special assistant to Kentucky's attorney general in 1887 and 1888, and in 1891, he was chosen as a delegate to the state constitutional convention. Knott became a professor of civics and economics at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky in 1892. In 1894, Knott and Centre president William C. Young organized a law department at the college; Knott became the department's first dean. An illness forced him to retire in 1902. He died in Lebanon on June 18, 1911, and was buried at the Ryder Cemetery in Lebanon. Knott County, Kentucky was formed in 1884 and named in his honor. ==References==