Rachel Knight facts for kids

Rachel Knight (1840 - February 11, 1889) was an African-American woman who lived with Newton Knight (1829-1922), a former soldier who left the Confederate army. In 1881, she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rachel was played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the 2016 movie Free State of Jones, which also starred Matthew McConaughey as Newton Knight.

Who Was Rachel Knight?

Her Early Life

Rachel Knight was born into slavery in Georgia in 1840. Her parents were named Abraham and Viney. When she was 16, in 1856, she was bought by John "Jackie" Knight. He was one of the biggest slave owners in Jones County. By this time, Rachel already had two daughters, Rosetta and George Ann.

In 1858, Rachel had a son named Jeffrey. His father was Jesse Davis Knight, who was John "Jackie" Knight's son. In 1861, Rachel became part of Jesse Davis Knight's household. She had two more children with him: Edward in 1861 and Francis "Fanny" in 1863.

Life with Newton Knight

We don't know many details about Rachel's daily life. Near the end of the American Civil War, she helped Newton Knight. Newton was John "Jackie" Knight's grandson. He had left the Confederate army, and Rachel helped him avoid being caught.

Newton was first married to Serena Turner. Later, he and Serena separated, and he lived with Rachel. Rachel and Newton had two children together: Martha Ann, born in 1865, and John Stewart, born in 1868.

Her Faith and Later Years

In the early 1880s, missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began sharing their beliefs in the South, especially in Jones County. Rachel joined the Church on February 2, 1881. Her daughter Martha Ann also joined in 1882. Her son John Stewart was baptized later in 1891.

A family historian named Kenneth Welch said that Rachel traveled to Utah, but she came back to Mississippi because it was too cold for her.

Rachel stayed in Jasper County, Mississippi with Newton until she passed away in 1889. Family members said she died from health issues related to childbirth. She had given birth to a child about every two years since she was 14. Rachel was buried in the Knight family cemetery. This was one of the few cemeteries in the state where both Black and white people were buried. Newton Knight was later buried next to her.

Rachel Knight's Family Legacy

Newton Knight encouraged many of Rachel's children to marry people who looked as white as possible. He wanted their family to have more opportunities. Because many of Rachel's children and grandchildren had light skin and straight hair, they were sometimes called the "white Negroes" of Mississippi.

Many of Rachel's later family members looked white. In the 1920s and 1930s, some of them moved to other states to start new lives. This allowed them to have chances that were not available to African Americans at that time.

The Case of Davis Knight

Rachel's great-grandson, Davis Knight, married a white woman named Junie Lee Spradley in 1946. Two years later, Davis was accused of breaking a Mississippi state law. This law said that marriage between a white person and a Black person was illegal. The law also said it was illegal if a person had one-eighth or more "Negro blood."

During his trial, Davis said he was white. His wife believed he was white, and his Navy records listed him as white. However, the court decided that because his great-grandmother, Rachel, was considered Black, Davis had at least one-eighth Black ancestry. This was an example of Mississippi's "one-drop rule." This rule meant that if a person had any Black ancestry, they were legally considered Black. Davis was sentenced to five years in prison.

In 1949, Davis appealed his case, and the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned his conviction. The state laws against interracial marriage were later made illegal by the United States Supreme Court in 1967 with the case Loving v. Virginia. These laws were officially removed in Mississippi in the 1980s.