William
C. McKnight
(1887-1918) and
Dora (Strauch) McKnight
(1888-1973)
William
Curtis McKnight was born in 1887 in Redstone Twp.,
Fayette County, PA, the son of Henry and
Martha (Nutt) McKnight. He was one of at least 2 known cousins to lose his
life in World War I.
William married his 2nd cousin, Dora Strauch. She was born on March 14, 1888 in Fayette County, the daughter of John and Mary Hester (McKnight) Strauch.
As young newlyweds, William and Dora resided in Brownsville, Fayette County.
In 1918, after the United States entered World War I, William enlisted in the 80th Division of the 205th Infantry. He was assigned to the Military Police.
While stationed for training at Camp Lee, VA, he wrote letters home, including several to his brother James, copies of which are now in our archives.
In a letter dated May 2, 1918, William good naturedly but prophetically asked his brother to "take good care of Dora while i am gone. If there is anything she needs you help her out. And if i come back i will return it and if i do not get back you will be out."
One of William's wartime letters
William sailed for Europe in May, 1918. In a letter written Aug. 6, 1918 from "Somewhere in France," he told James that "we are getting along alright, getting plenty to eat and not working to hard."
Tragedy struck just 17 days after William's last letter to his brother. While
riding on the railroad near Paris on Aug. 23, there was a horrible collision
with another train, and William was killed immediately. A French newspaper reported
that:
Last Friday (Aug. 23, 1918) evening while American troop trains were passing through Enghien-les-Bains a work train crashed into a troop train and one American soldier, Private William McKnight, was killed outright. Another man ... was terribly injured and four other men were more or less seriously hurt. McKnight's body ... [was] brought into Enghien-les-Bains... An impressive funeral service was arranged by the Municipal Authorities of Enghien [and] was held for ... McKnight. On Saturday evening near the hospital. Red Cross men and women were present at the services. An abundance of beautiful flowers were placed on the coffins by French, British and American sympathizers. A most impressive ceremony. Dr. Lelary the mayor of Enghien-les-Bains in an eloquent oration paid a high tribute to the American Army and to the unfortunate soldiers. Many inhabitants ... accompanied the hearse.
In
September 1921, William's body was shipped back to the United States for burial. The funeral service
was held in the Methodist-Episcopal Church in Dawson, PA. The photo shown
here is of his flag-draped casket being placed in the hearse.
Burial was at the
Dickerson Run Cemetery.
Dora later married Henry Gilmore and lived at Dawson. She died in 1973.
An image of William in his Army military police uniform was our "Photo of the Month" in December 2001.
Copyright © 2000-2001 Mark A. Miner