Biography of William W. Knox (1842- )
Portrait and Biographical Record of St. Charles, Lincoln and Warren Counties (Chicago: Chapman Pub. Co., 1895) page 397.

WILLIAM W. KNOX, one of the native sons of Lincoln County, removed to his present homestead in 1878, and has been engaged in its cultivation for the past seventeen years. The farm, which is located on section 24, township 50, range 2, is well adapted for the raising of cereals and for pasture. For many years Mr. KNOX has been a School Director, and in politics is a Democrat. As he was disenfranchised by the DRAKE Constitution for a number of years after the war, his first Presidential ballot was cast for S. J. TILDEN.

James KNOX, grandfather of our subject, was born in Ireland, but was of Scotch descent. Coming to America, he settled in Tennessee, bringing with him his wife. Three of his brothers became residents of South Carolina. After a residence covering several years in Tennessee, he removed to Kentucky, and in 1827 settled on Slaven's Prairie, six miles west of Troy, Mo. At the end of four years he went to make his home on a farm near Sugar Creek, and while there was called to the home beyond, about 1846, at the ripe old age of seventy years. He was a noted member of the Masonic order, having taken his degrees in his native land, and religiously he was an old-school Presbyterian. He was the father of eight children: James; Nancy, Mrs. CROUCH; Elizabeth, Mrs. GALLOWAY; Mary, Mrs. Jane WILLIAMS; Mrs. CANNON; Henry; Mathew and Robert. Mathew KNOX, the father of our subject, was born in Tennessee in 1809, and
died in this county in 1874. He was about eighteen years of age when with his father he came to Missouri. St. Louis was only a small French village, and land within six miles of the place was public domains. Young Mathew was married about 1834 to Miss Nancy GALLOWAY, who was born in Virginia in April,1814, and who lived until September, 1886. They had ten children, as follows: Richard, Julia, Elizabeth, William W., Charles, Sarah, Rebecca, John, George and Eugenia. Richard resides about four miles west of Troy; Julia is the wife of Mason DUNN, and is now living in Callaway County, Elizabeth married John COCHRAN, now deceased, and lives near Auburn; Charles resides a short distance west of Troy; Sarah died at the age of twenty-five years; Rebecca married John FORMAN, and lives near Troy; John is a veterinary surgeon of Louisiana, Mo.; George operates the old homestead six miles west of Troy; and Eugenia, Mrs.
NEWLAND, lives southeast of the same village. After his marriage Mathew KNOX rented
part of his father’s farm for a few years, after which he bought a farm six miles from Troy, and there made his home until his death, which occurred in April, 1874.

William W. KNOX, of this sketch, was born January 24,1842, and passed his early years under the parental roof. He attended the old-time subscription schools of the day. When the war broke out he started to join PRICE’S army, going as far as Mt. Zion, where the skirmish occurred. The company being scattered, young William returned home and did not again take up arms against the Government. For a year and a-half he engaged in trading in live-stock in several surrounding counties.

March 7, 1866, William KNOX married Miss Eliza A. DODSON, Who was born in this county, September 13, 1845. Her parents were Jonathan and Mary (WALLACE) DODSON, natives of Kentucky and Maryland, respectively, and whose marriage was celebrated in this state in 1842. Jonathan DODSON was born in 1815, and lived in Kentucky until 1854, when his parents removed to Missouri. His father, Jeremiah DODSON, was born in Virginia in 1790, and was four years of age when the family removed to Kentucky, the year Wayne made his treaty with the Indians. His parents were Eli and Chloe (OLDRUM) DODSON, the former a soldier of the Revolutionary War and present at Yorktown when CORNWALLIS surrendered.

The wife of our subject is one of three children. Her eldest sister, Elizabeth, married Wallace DUNN, of Burr Oak Township, and her younger sister, Rebecca B., became the wife of William CUNNINGHAM, of Snow Hill Township. Mr. and Mrs. W. W. KNOX have the following children: Mary, Odessa, Clara, John, Aziel, Nellie, Sophia, Jesse and Eliza. The eldest daughter is teaching in the school at Star Hope.

For the first year after his marriage Mr. KNOX lived at the home of his father-in-law. The two following years he operated the farm belonging to Mrs. DUMPHY. Later he built a home on a piece of land given to his wife by her father, and here the family dwelt for eight years. The present farm of our subject comprises three hundred and twenty-six acres and has substantial improvements.

File submitted to HERITAGE PAGES of LINCOLN COUNTY, MISSOURI by Michael Parker, 18 April 1999.  Link change or update: 23 May 2000

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