From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sarah Kemble Knight (b. 1666, Boston - d. 1727, New London, Connecticut) a teacher and businesswoman, born in the daughter of Thomas Kemble, a merchant.

Having been left a widow, in middle life she opened a school which gained some reputation in Boston and included amongst its students Benjamin Franklin. Before opening this school, Madame Knight, as she was generally called, in 1704 took a journey on horseback from Boston to New York City, an unparalleled feat for a woman. she was a very courageous women too.

She recounted her experiences in the "journals" which have made her known to students of Colonial literature and history. The small diary of her Boston to New York journey was first published posthumously in 1825 by Theodore Dwight, The Journal of Madam Knight has subsequently been reprinted by others with additional biographical information.

Her Journal remains noteworthy due to both its larger-than-life central character (Knight herself) and the fact that it tells of a trying journey not normally undertaken by a woman. The discomforts of primitive traveling are described with much sprightliness and not a little humor.

In 1714 her daughter married John Livingston of Connecticut, and Knight moved with them to New London, where she continued her business and land dealings. When she died in 1727, she left her daughter a very large estate, attesting to her shrewdness and skill as a businessperson.

Sarah Kemble Knight is buried at Ye Antientist Burial Ground, New London.

• M. C. Tyler, History of American literature, volume ii (New York, 1897-99)

• Sarah Kemble Knight - From Annenburg Media Learner.org

• Sarah Kemble Knight - From Houghton Mifflin The Heath Anthology of American Literature

• "Wee made Good speed along" - Boston Businesswoman Sarah Knight Travels From Kingston to New London, 1704.

This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.