Biographical Sketch of John Knaus, Knob Noster, Johnson County, Missouri >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** John Knaus, an honored pioneer of Johnson county, is a citizen worthy of the highest regard and consideration. He was born March 1, 1833 in Howard county, Missouri, son of Jacob and Catherine (Maxwell) Knaus. Jacob Knaus was a son of Henry Knaus, an eminent pioneer of Howard county, Missouri. Henry Knaus was by trade a blacksmith. He came to Missouri in 1817 and died in 1853. Jacob Knaus entered fourteen hund- red acres of land in Johnson county, where he became widely known as a prosperous and influential farmer. When John Knaus was a youth, the schools were in Missouri very few and far apart. He attended school first in the country and later in Fayette, Bellair and Warrensburg, completing his education at St. Louis Commercial College, St. Louis, Missouri. After completing school, Mr. Knaus entered the teaching pro- fession and for several years taught school in Johnson county. He became interested in the pursuits of agriculture and turned his entire attention to farming, in which vocation he has ever since been engaged. In 1859, John Knaus was united in marriage with Martha Ann Thompson, daughter of Andrew Thompson, a native of Tennessee. To John and Martha Ann (Thompson) Knaus were born four daughters, all of whom are now de- ceased. Mrs. Knaus died in 1900 and she was laid to rest in the family burial ground. She was a member of the Presbyterian church and a noble christian woman, one whose life was an inspiration to all with whom she came in contact. Mr. Knaus now lives alone, quietly spending the closing years of his long life of usefulness on his little farm of thirty-six acres, near Knob Noster, where he is employed in attending his land in pasture and garden. Mr. Knaus has been a resident of John- son county for seventy-seven years and his personal experiences would alone give a clear picture of pioneer life and of the growth of the county. When he came to Johnson county wild game was in abundance. He has many times seen more than thirty-five deer in one herd in this section of the state and flocks of countless wild turkeys and prairie chickens. The mail was received but once a week and at Warrensburg, to which place one must go on horseback in order to obtain it. Later, the mail was distributed at another point, Clearfork Mill. The mail would be placed in a large box and the people would look through all all the mail and select that which belonged to them. About 1846, Knob Noster became a postoffice, receiving its name from two prominent hill- tops. Among the pioneer preachers whom Mr. Knaus recalls, were "Uncle John" Morrow, "Uncle Bob" Morrow, "Uncle Robert" Rennick, and Reverend James Dalton. Mr. Knaus has a fund of interesting and instructive stories of the days long past stored away in his wonderfully retentive memory. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: <> Penny (Eisenbarger) Harrell ====================================================================