Samuel G. Knee 1834-1896

KNEE, MORELAND

Posted By: Judy Holthaus (email)
Date: 5/12/2005 at 18:35:16

Manchester Press... Aug. 13, 1896
Col. S. G. Knee is Dead. The people of Delaware county will learn with great and sincere sorrow of the death of Col. S. G. Knee, at his home in Colesburg last night. It is safe to say that Col. Knee was one of the few men in the county who enjoyed a wide acquaintance and friendship with the people in every part and corner of it and news of his death will come to all by whom he was known personally of by reputation as a berevement of almost a personal nature. Among his more intimate friends it has been known that for years he has been subject to a chronic heart affection, but of such massive build and rugged health was he that he was seldon prostrated as a result of the trouble. On Sunday last Col. Knee was obliged to take to his bed with what the attending physician termed bilious fever. The best of medical care and attention was given him, and his vigorous nature gradually asserted itself, until by yesterday he was feeling so much better as to contemplate getting up on the day following. Up to nine o'clock last night he was considered out of danger and on the road to recovery the bilious trouble having been elimated in great measure. Shortly before twelve o'clock however, heart failure set in and witin forty minutes he was dead. The sudden change in his condition was entirely unlooked for and could not have been forseen.

Samuel G. Knee was born in Martinsburg, Blair County, Pennsylvania March 11, 1834, and was therefore 62 years of age when he died. He came to Delaware county in 1855, and worked at the carpenter trade until the civil was broke out. On the 19th of September 1861 he enlisted in Company H. 12th Iowa Infantry, and was mustered as 1st sergeant of his company on October 23d of the same year. He participated in the battles of Ft. Henry, Ft. Donaldson, Shiloh, Tupelo, Nashville, Jackson, and the Sieges of Vicksburg, and Spanish Fort. He was captured at Shiloh on the 6th of April 1862, and imprisoned at Montgomery and Selma, Alabama, and in Libby Prison at Richmond, Virginia. On the 17th of October of that year he was paroled at Richmond and turned over to our forces the next day at Aiken's Landing on the James River, and exchanged November 10. In March 1863 Sergeant Knee was promoted to the position of Second Lieutenant and was made Captain in September 1863, Major in January 1865, and Lieutenant-Colonel January 1, 1866. He was mustered out with the regiment January 20, 1866, by reason of special order No. 7 Military Division of Tennessee, and commanded the regiment from the close of the battle of Nashville until it was finally mustered out. In 1864 he was in command, for six months, of the Pioneer Corps of the 16th Army Corps. One of his exploits being the construction across a River, in Ten hours, of a 600 Foot bridge. The bridge was built of raw material produced in the near vicinity, and upon it the entire army in pursuit of Price crossed without accident or break. This is one of the most remarkable mechanical achievement of the war. Col. Knee served as Provost Marshal at Montgomery, Alabama for a time, and also on the board of court-martial at Mobile, in the same state.

Col. Knee was married July 19, 1866 to Julia Moreland, sister of D. W. Moreland now of this city. Mrs. Knee died in February 1888, and three children, Frank, Edward and Blanche are left to mourn the loss of both father and mother. Mr. Knee was a prominent member of the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternitites, and although in affiliation with no religious denomination was an attendant upon the services of the Congregational society. He was also a valued member of the W. A. Morse Post, G.A.R. of this city.

The death of Col. Knee deprives Colesburg and Delaware County of one of their most able business men. He was by disposition one of the most pleasant men to know, always congenial, courteous and obliging. He was a firm and loyal friend as he had been a brave and intrepid soldier, and upon his private name and business reputation there has never rested a taint of wrong. He was an affectionate and generous husband and father, and a sturdy, upright, straight-forward man in every relation of life. To the Press. To whom Mr. Knee has been for years a faithful and valued friend. His death is personally felt and mourned. He was a man to be counted upon, a man of sound judgement, conservative, yet progressive in all that tended to the betterment of the town he lived in. Colesburg can illy spare Col. Knee. He was the counsel first sought in affairs of importance, and his honor was as the honor of the community in which he dwelt. Scores of friends all over the county grieve today for the passing away of a pioneer citizen, soldier and business man.

The Colesburg Male Quartette rendered a few appropriate songs. The funeral was the largest ever held in Colesburg, all feeling anxious to pay tribute to a man who had been a friend to them. The whole town and surrounding county turned out to pay their respects, and in addition the societies form Earlville, Greeley, Elkport, and Manchester were well represented. His remains were quietly laid to rest in the Brown Cemetery. The death of Col. Knee will be deeply deplored, for he has always took a great interest in the town and county and stood ready to help people in distress as well as public enterprises. His cheerful presence will be missed, but his good deeds will be remembered. he leaves three children, Frank, Blanche and Ed., to mourn the loss of a kind and indulgent father.

For more on Samuel G. Knee see: Delaware County History 1878 P. 612.