Bio of KNIGHT, James Melvin (b.1841 d.1883), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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Vol II, pg 49-50
JAMES MELVIN KNIGHT
James Melvin Knight, who in the early years of his residence in Minneapolis made
valuable contribution to the intellectual development of the state through his
activity in educational circles, later concentrated his efforts and energies
upon mercantile pursuits, becoming identified with the Harrison-Knight Hardware
Company of Minneapolis. He thus continued in business until his death, which
occurred August 5, 1883. Though forty years have since come and gone, he is yet
remembered by the older residents of Minneapolis as one who held closely to the
highest standards of commercial ethics and whose sterling worth was recognized
by all with whom he came into contact.
James Melvin Knight was born in Sweden, Oxford county, Maine, March 16, 1841,
his parents being Daniel and Abigail (Evans) Knight, both of whom were of New
England birth, representing old families of that section of the country. James
M. Knight acquired his education in his native state, completing his studies in
Bowdoin College, where he made excellent records by his scholarship in Latin,
French and Greek. He was a young man of about twenty-six years when, attracted
by the opportunities of the west, he came to Minneapolis in 1867 and here
engaged in teaching school for about three years. In 1870 he was married and in
the fall of that year removed to Stillwater, Minnesota, where he organized the
public school system and continued as a teacher for three years, placing the
schools of that city upon a substantial basis. On the expiration of that period
he returned to Minneapolis, where he acted as assistant to the superintendent of
schools for a time, but later turned his attention to mercantile affairs. It was
about 1875 that he became identified with the Harrison-Knight Hardware Company,
of which he was the head for a number of years, continuing in the business until
his death. He was active in building up an enterprise of large proportions for
that day and was classed as one of the representative merchants of the city.
In 1870 Mr. Knight was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Harrison, a daughter of
Thomas Asbury and Rebecca (Green) Harrison, who came to Minneapolis in 1860. Mr.
and Mrs. Knight had one daughter, Edith Harrison, who is now the wife of George
K. Belden, a son of Judge Henry C. Belden and a member of the firm conducting
business as heating contractors under the name of the Belden-Porter-Gray
Company. He was born at Lyndon, Vermont, in 1870, his father being one of the
prominent attorneys of Minneapolis. The son obtained his early education in
schools of his native city and also attended school in St. Johnsbury. In 1884
the family home was established in Minneapolis and he entered the University of
Minnesota, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1892 and
at the same time completed a course in the law department. He afterward became
associated with Thomas F. Wallace in the bonding and liability business and
later became interested in electrical contracting, being now a member of the W.
D. Gray Company. He is prominent in club circles of the city, having membership
in the Minikahda, Minneapolis and Lafayette clubs. In 1906 he married Miss Edith
Harrison Knight and they today represent in the second generation two of the
prominent old families of the city. Mr. Knight was a member of the Hennepin
Avenue Methodist Episcopal church and was deeply interested in all that
pertained to the moral progress of the community and to its intellectual
advancement. In a word, his influence was ever given on the side of development
and improvement and as one of the early educators and merchants of the city he
well deserves mention in this volume.