urn:taro:utexas.cah.02260 A Guide to the John A. E. Knight Papers, 1850-1915 Original EAD encoding by Laurel Rozema according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. January 2011 Finding aid written in English. Descriptive Summary Knight, John A. E., d. 1894 Knight, John A. E., papers 1850-1915 Materials are written in English. 99-140 1 ft. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin The correspondence, diaries, and account books in the John A. E. Knight Papers, 1850-1915, document Knight’s business and familial activities. Biographical Note

The son of Matthew Jewell Knight, John A. E. Knight (d. 1894) married Henrietta Mercer Chiles in the 1850s, following Henrietta’s trip to the Northern Plains of the United States and California. The Knights operated a ranch in Texas and made trail drives to Kansas and Missouri.

 Scope and Contents

The correspondence, diaries, and account books in the John A. E. Knight Papers, 1850-1915, document Knight’s business and familial activities. Knight’s correspondence, 1852-1889, and account books, 1862-1910, concern his vocation as a drover and rancher in Texas and relate in particular to a cattle drive to Kansas City and Dodge City, Kansas, and Sedalia, Missouri. The correspondence of his wife Henrietta Knight, 1862-1915, illuminates her lawsuit to collect money for a herd of cattle taken by Native Americans and her research into the Knight family history. Additionally, the photocopied and typed transcript diary of Henrietta describes her 1850 wagon train trip across the Northern Plains, through Oregon, and to California.

 Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Knight, John A. E., d. 1894 -- Archives. Knight, Henrietta Mercer Chiles. Subjects Ranching -- Texas. Cattle drives -- Middle West. Action and defenses -- Texas. Places Texas -- History -- 19th century -- Sources. Oregon -- History -- 19th century -- Sources. California -- History -- 19th century -- Sources. Kansas -- History -- 19th century -- Sources. Preferred Citation

John A. E. Knight Papers, 1850-1915, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

 Processing Information

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project, 2009-2011.

 Detailed Description of the Papers Inventory 2E294 Diary, 1850-1878 2E294 Account books, 1862-1868, 1876, 1898-1910 2E295 Letters, 1852-1889 2E296 Henrietta Knight letters, 1862-1915