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Charles
Howard McKnight |
Charles Howard McKnight was born on March 31, 1890 in Fayette County, PA, the
son of Henry
and Martha (Nutt) McKnight. He led an ill-fated life, and was seriously
injured as a coal miner and later wounded as a soldier in World War I.
Before the war, Charles resided near Brownsville, Fayette County, and worked as a trip rider at the Mt. Hope coal mine. On Nov. 22, 1916, he broke three ribs and suffered internal injuries when he "was jerked off the front end of a trip and fell through a trestle." The injury was reported in that year's edition of the Report of the Department of Mines of Pennsylvania. The accident also is mentioned on a memorial webpage to miners who worked at Mt. Hope.
Charles and his brother William both served in the US Army during World War I -- Charles with the Army Engineers, and William with the Military Police. Charles was wounded in battle inhaling poison gas, and never fully recovered. Tragically, his brother was killed in France in a railroad accident.
Upon
arriving stateside, Charles was treated at the Overseas Convalescent Detachment at Camp Dix,
NJ. While there, he wrote to his sister Mary
Catherine Pratton, saying: "I done my best, but I will never be able to
do another day's work." According to a newspaper account, Charles
"brought with him a newspaper from France containing an account of the
funeral services of his brother ... who was killed in France in an accident
while on his way to the front, and was buried, together with another soldier who
was killed with him, in Enghler Les Bains. He also brought with him a photograph
of the funeral, which showed the French people honoring the American boys who
gave their lives for their country."
In a letter to Charles' mother, his former commanding officer wrote:
In a few days your soldier will receive his honorable discharge and start for home. He is bringing back many fine qualities of body and mind which he has acquired or developed in the military service. The Army has done everything it could do to make him strong, fine, self-reliant, yet self-controlled. It returns him to you a better man.... His return to civil life will bring new problems for you both to solve ... and in your hands and his rest the future of our country.
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View from the foot of Market Street in Brownsville, with Nemacolin Castle barely visible in the distance at the top of the hill |
Charles' first wife was Elizabeth ( ? - ? ). Her fate is unknown, but there are clues in a 1932 letter that his mother wrote to his brother James: "Charley was up the other day. Lizzie has left him. He is getting a divorce."
In about 1935, Charles married his second wife, Esther Fodor (1911- ? ). They had one son, Charles McKnight.
Charles later moved to near Philadelphia, and died there in April 1967. The fates of Esther and son Charles are unknown.
Copyright © 2000-2002, 2008 Mark A. Miner