| Notes |
LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 2, p.778-779
Knight, John Miner, second counselor in the presidency of the Ensign Stake, Salt Lake City, Utah, was born. Sept. 14, 1871, in Salt Lake City, the son of John Allen Knight and Isora Atwood. He was baptized by his father Aug. 22, 1880; ordained successively to the offices of Deacon, Teacher and Elder, the latter ordination taking place in December, 1893, by Phillip Brooks. He was ordained a Seventy Sept. 2 , 1895, by Seymour B. Young, and ordained a High Priest April 1, 1904. Bro. Knight was born and raised in the Twelfth Ward, which was his home from 1871 to 1895; he then became a resident of the Eleventh Ward. From his earliest youth he has been a diligent and successful worker in the Y. M . M. I. A. in the Eleventh Ward, and from 1903 to 1904 he was one of the presidents of the 8th quorum of Seventy. When the Ensign Stake of Zion was organized April 1, 1904, he was set apart as second counselor to President Richard W. Young. In 1895-1898 he filled a mission to the Indian Territory (now in the Central States Mission), during which he presided over the Arkansas conference seven months and was secretary of the mission seventeen months. In 1893 (Dec. 21st) he married Florence R. Cornell (daughter of Thos. Cornell and Mary Graves), who has borne her husband ten children. Bro. Knight is a carriage-maker by avocation.
Biography from The Young Women's Journal, Vol. 30
John M. Knight was born in the Twelfth Ward of Salt Lake City, Utah, on September 14, 1871. He is the son of John Allen Knight and Isora M. Atwood. His father became a member of the Church in Cape Colony, South Africa, from which he emigrated to Utah in 1864. His mother, a member of the well-known Atwood family, came to Utah from Connecticut in 1850.
John M. received his education in the district schools of Salt Lake City and in the Latter-day Saints University. He was baptized by his father, August 22, 1880, and successively held the offices of deacon, teacher, and elder, his ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood having taken place in December, 1893. Two years later he was ordained a seventy by President Seymour B. Young, and in 1903 he was set apart as one of the presidents of the eighth quorum of seventy. On the organization of the Ensign stake, April 1, 1904, he was ordained a high priest.
Beginning with [1895] he filled a three years' mission to the Central States, during which he presided over the Arkansas Conference for seven months and served as the secretary of the mission for the period of seventeen months.
From April 1, 1904, to June 24, 1919, the date upon which he was set apart to preside over the Western States Mission, he served successively as second counselor and first counselor to President Richard W. Young of the Ensign Stake.
On December 21, 1893, he married Florence R. Cornell, daughter of Thomas and Mary Graves Cornell. The fruits of this very happy niarriage have been ten children, eight of whom now, survive.
His father, Patriarch John A. Knight, recently deceased, was a man of unimpeachable character, sterling faith, and incapitulating loyalty who could be depended upon to render every service that might be required of him. Sister Isora Knight, John's mother, now a resident of the Eleventh Ward, is a representative woman of the old school, patient, industrious, and God-fearing, the source of unfailing help and strength to her posterity.
President Knight was brought up as a wheelright under the skilful tutelage of his father, who, for many years, was a member of the well known firm of Oblad and Knight. Later, Patriarch Knight with John and several of the latter's brothers organized the Knight Carriage and Automobile Company on Social Hall Avenue; of this last named enterprise. John was the manager and moving spirit. He is skilled in every department of work carried on by his company, in his time playing many parts, and turns with equal efficiency from one branch to another. When, in order to consult him, I would call at his place of business, sometimes I would find him back in the carpenter shop engaged in the making of spokes or felloes, at other times tacking on the tops of sheep wagons and automobiles, or up stairs painting the otherwise finished product of his establishment, and again fitting on a tire or wielding the sledge on the blacksmith's anvil, or, perchance, shoeing a horse, while, in later years, I have frequently discovered him hidden beneath an automobile or bending over and delving deep into its internal parts. With clothing soaked in grease, his face streaked with grime, and hands calloused with hard work and burned by fire and pinched with tools and machinery, John has presented a perfect picture of "muscular Christianity," an upstanding demonstration that Mormonism, which after all has ever been the chief moving principle of his life, is not a mere abstraction but a vital, virile, compelling force, which kindles the loyalty and sways the lives of hard working men of action.
Of the fine quality of his services as one of the presidency of Ensign Stake, it would be difficult to sneak in terms of too high praise. Except under the stress of an emergency, he stood ready at any moment to drop sledge or hammer in order to attend a meeting or perform a religious duty -- his attitude being that service to the Church was not merely his foremost obligation but his chief pleasure. John M. is clean in thought, quick in decision, and sound in judgment -- his contribution to our Councils in the Ensign Stake have, therefore, been of great value.
He is a speaker of remarkable power -- to an impressive presence, (for he is a massive man, over six feet in height and more than two hundred pounds in weight, with shaggy, grizzly hair and eyebrows like the hedges along an English lane, and a beardless face, every line of which is a hall-mark of strength and power) he adds a voice that would cause Stentor to turn green with envy. Upon these physical gifts there is superimposed elocutionary training, experience, enthusiasm, and above all, a satisfied and unquestioning faith in the divine origin of his message.
He enjoys a popularity that is rare for a man of his decisive and strong characteristics -- for withal there is much of the good-fellow in John M., and his love of, and keen sympathy for, his fellow men is not the least among his fine qualities.
He is a good deal of a "kid," too, and dearly loves a game of baseball, either as spectator or player, or a game of football with its thrilling displays of manly skill and daring.
The strength of President Knight's faith in God and in the ordinances of the gospel is infectious, and many have been the occasions when the sick have been made whole through the power of his administrations -- indeed, I can formulate no more accurate expression of my faith in John M. Knight's faith than the statement that there is no man in the Church to whom in case of sickness in my home I would turn with more hope, yea, certainty of cailfng down the blessings of Heaven.
That through his love of God, mankind and the work, his tireless energy and his power of enthusing others, the Western States Mission will have a large measure of success, goes without saying.
His good, wholesome wife, quiet, faithful, and effective, and his vigorous children, as they advance in age will prove to be invaluable aids to President Knight in his important labors as president of a mission which extends from Canada to Mexico and from the Missouri to even beyond the summits of the Rockies.
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(Research):(Research):Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, p.991
KNIGHT, JOHN M. (son of John Allen Knight and Isadore M. At wood). Born Sept. 14, 1871, Salt Lake City.
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1871 - 1947 (75 years)
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