Contra
Costa County
Biographies
GEORGE
W. KNIGHT
GEORGE W. KNIGHT. A self-made man in the best sense implied by
the term, George W. Knight is justly entitled to unstinted praise for the
success which he has achieved in the past thirty years. In the fall of 1874 he came to this state
with nothing but his own ability to presage the success which should one day be
his, and through the intervening years has worked with a patience, energy and
perseverance unsurpassed, and to-day is the prosperous owner of many acres of
the finest wheat land, orchards of choice almonds and fruits, and a fine home,
all of which bring him to rank with the representative agriculturists of Contra
Costa county. The town of Knightsen was established by Mr. Knight, was laid out
upon a part of his ranch, and in its upbuilding he has proved on of the most
important factors, giving of his time and means to induce the home seeker to
locate there. A postoffice
was established in 1901, and May 15 of that year Mr. Knight was
appointed postmaster, a position which he still maintains.
Born in Chelsea, Me., January 20,
1843, Mr. Knight is the son of John and Adeline (Tibbitts) Knight. His parents removing to Whitefield, Me., his
youth was spent in that town until he was twenty-three years old, when he
became dependent upon his own resources, with the
ambition and spirit of the old New England stock seeking to make his own way in
the world. He went first to
Massachusetts where he followed the work of landscape gardening. With the practice of economy and thrift he
was able to save considerable money, and in 1874 came to California via the
Isthmus of Panama. He went to Santa
Barbara and secured employment on the ranch of Colonel Hollister, with whom he
remained four and a half years. He early
determined that he would one day be the possessor of a fine ranch and
accordingly saved every dollar which could possibly be spared. He decided to work in various parts of the
state until he found the location most to be desired, and for some time
thereafter was employed in San Francisco, Marin county, Livermore valley,
Antioch, Contra Costa county, working on ranches and driving teams, and
subsequently liking the eastern part of Contra Costa county he rented a ranch
in connection with G. Dunbar and N. B. Hewitt. This was devoted to the cultivation of
potatoes and barley. Later
Mr. Knight sold his interest in the ranch to good advantage, when he went
into the hay pressing business, working for different men, following this and
various kinds of work until 1883.
Financially able then to begin to realize his ambition, he purchased one
hundred and ten acres of choice land northeast of Brentwood, a part of the
Barkley ranch, and began the work of improvement which to-day names his ranch
among the most desirable in the county.
He devoted the land to the cultivation of grain and hay and met with a
success which enabled him to continue his purchase of land. Eight acres adjoining was next added to the
ranch, then ten acres and seventy acres on Sherman Island, consisting of
reclaimed land. He built a comfortable
house, necessary barns and outbuildings, set out three acres of fruit, two of
vineyard, and fifteen acres of almonds.
He raised all of his own trees and has done considerable nursery
work, He propagated the “Klondike” almond,
a paper shell and large sized kernel, and considered one of the finest almonds
in the state, and is among the display of fruits and nuts at the World’s Fair
at St. Louis, 1904. He also erected
a warehouse for the needs of his ranch.
Foreseeing the need of a shipping station and postoffice
at that point on the Santa Fe Railroad, in 1901 he had surveyed seven and a
half acres of land, built a store and postoffice, and
May 15 was appointed to the office of postmaster. The little town now boasts a station, hotel,
store, school and a number of houses.
The marriage of Mr. Knight occurred
March 2, 1885, and united him with Christina Christensen, who was born in
Denmark, the daughter of John and Anna (Hansen) Christensen, and it was the
combination of the two names which gave the name to the little town at this
point. They are the parents of three
children, namely: Amy Marie, who married Harvey Rook, the station agent of Knightsen, and has one child, Margaret; Addie F.; and
Essie. Mr. Knight has held the position
of school trustee and clerk for the past ten years. As a public spirited citizen he has liberally
subscribed to all measures that he believed would advance the moral and
educational status of Contra Costa county and more
especially the locality in which he lives.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 551-552. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Donna Toole.
Contra Costa County Biographies