Sarah Kemble Knight facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sarah Kemble Knight
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| Born | April 19, 1666 |
| Died | September 25, 1727 (aged 61) Norwich, Connecticut Colony, British America
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| Spouse(s) | Richard Knight (d. 1703) |
| Children | 1 |
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Sarah Kemble Knight (born April 19, 1666 – died September 25, 1727) was a teacher and businesswoman. She is best known for a short diary she wrote about a trip from Boston, Massachusetts, to New York City in 1704–1705. Her diary gives us one of the few personal accounts of what travel was like in Connecticut during colonial times.
Contents
About Sarah Knight
Sarah was born in Boston to Captain Thomas Kemble and Elizabeth Trerice. In 1689, she married Richard Knight. They had one child, a daughter named Elizabeth. After her husband died in 1703, Sarah became responsible for her home and business.
When she wrote her journal, Sarah was 38 years old. She ran a boarding house in Boston. She also had experience copying legal documents. She traveled to New Haven and later to New York City. Her trip was to help a friend with a family estate after someone had passed away. Sarah kept a journal of her journey. It gives us a rare look at what travel was like in colonial Connecticut.
Her Journey to New York
Sarah Knight always traveled with a guide, like a post rider. This meant she was never alone on the road. Even so, her trip showed how dangerous long-distance travel by horseback could be back then.
When crossing the Thames River, she wrote about a difficult ferry ride. "Here, by reason of a very high wind, we met with great difficulty in getting over," she wrote. "The Boat tos’t exceedingly, and our horses capper’d at a very surprising Rate, and set us all in a fright."
The next day, she traveled on "very bad" roads. These roads were "incumbered with rocks and mountainous passages." Sarah Knight then came to a bridge over a fast-flowing river. Her horse stumbled, and she almost fell into the water. This scared her very much.
When it came to places to stay, Sarah Knight sometimes had good experiences. She spent an evening with a minister in New London. She wrote that she was "very handsomely and plentifully treated and Lodg’d." She called the minister "the most affable, courteous, Genero’s and best of men."
However, not all her experiences were good. In Saybrook, she stopped for dinner. She complained about the landlady. The landlady offered mutton, which Sarah was happy about. But her guide said it smelled bad, so they left it. They paid sixpence each just for the smell!
Later, at a public house in Fairfield, Sarah Knight could not eat her meal. She went to bed without supper. Her room was small and messy. She found her bed hard and her blankets too small.
Sarah also worried about crossing dangerous rivers. She wrote about her fear of drowning. She imagined herself "drowning, otherwhiles drowned." Near the end of her trip, she had another close call. She almost fell into a river with her horse while crossing a flooded bridge. She called it "almost a miracle" that she didn't. The roads were also very rough. She described them as "very bad, Incumbred with Rocks and mountainos passages." These stories show some of the dangers Sarah faced.
Sarah kept going. After six days, she reached New Haven. She visited relatives there. Then, she continued her trip to New York, which took three more days of hard travel.
Her Journal
Sarah wrote about her five-month journey in her "journals." These writings made her known to people who study early American literature and history. Her small diary was found in 1825. It was published after her death as The Journal of Mme Knight by Theodore Dwight. It has been printed many times since then.
Her journal is important for several reasons. It features Sarah Knight herself, who was a strong character. It also tells the story of a very difficult journey. This kind of trip was not usually taken by women at that time. She described the challenges of early travel with humor. She even included poems about finding moonlight or being annoyed by noisy, drunken men. The journal is also valuable for showing the customs of the time. It gives vivid descriptions of early settlements in New England and New York.
Later Life
In 1706, Sarah opened a boarding house and taught school in Boston. Her school became well-known. People said she was excellent at teaching writing. In 1713, Sarah's daughter married John Livingston. Sarah then moved with them to New London. There, she continued her business and land dealings. People often called her "Madam Knight" as a sign of respect. She spent the rest of her life in New London or Norwich, Connecticut. She owned several farms in New London and a home in Norwich. She also ran an inn from the Livingston farm.
Sarah Kemble Knight died at age 62. She is buried in New London at Ye Antientist Burial Ground, New London.
Journal Structure and Style
Sarah Knight's journal mostly records the places and people she met each day. She wrote in detail about interesting or memorable interactions. These were usually with people she had strong opinions about.
For example, she wrote about crossing a swamp with a man she called "honest John." She joked that he made up stories to seem like a "Prince disguis'd." At the next stop, she met his daughter. The daughter asked her "silly questions" about why a woman was traveling alone. Sarah replied sharply, calling her rude.
These detailed stories contrast with other, less exciting parts. For instance, she wrote about two postmen exchanging letters. She didn't even name her own guide. But right after, she gave a very detailed description of a bad meal she was served. She often wrote about unpleasant food experiences in her journal.
Some moments on her journey deeply affected Sarah Knight. She wrote poems in her journal during these times. She would stop writing in regular sentences and switch to poetry. In one part, she was riding her horse alone in the dark woods at night. She felt very scared until the moon appeared and lit her way. After that, she felt a huge sense of relief and thanks towards the moon.
Sarah Knight's writing mainly focused on her surroundings. She wrote about what she saw and experienced outside herself. She also hinted that some of her stories were "not proper to be Related by a Female pen." This suggests she knew her private journal might be read by others. However, she never tried to publish it. It seems she forgot to have it destroyed before she died, which was a common practice back then.
Courage and Humor
Sarah Knight's journey was very difficult for a woman of her time. Her journal shows her courage and determination. Early in her trip, she had an argument about payment for an escort. She told the woman trying to charge her extra that she "would not be accessary to such extortion." Sarah stood her ground. She dealt directly with the escort and got a fair price. She also had to travel through dangerous and unfamiliar places. Even though she sometimes felt afraid, she kept going.
Despite the hardships, Sarah Knight added humor to her journal. Many experts say her funny descriptions of people and her jokes were early examples of American humor. They compare her style to later writers like Mark Twain.
Views of Her Time
Sarah Kemble Knight lived in a different time. Her journal shows some views about race and social class that were common then but are not acceptable today. For example, she wrote about interactions between enslaved people and white people. Her observations reflected the beliefs of her era. She also wrote about Native Americans in ways that are now considered disrespectful.
Knight also described some country people in a way that might seem harsh today. She said they were like cows that "seldom Loose their Cudd." She described one country gentleman in a very detailed and critical way. He was "spitting a Large deal of Aromatick Tincture," and "Stood staring rown’d him, like a Catt let out of a Baskett." These descriptions show how people viewed each other in the 18th century. Her writings offer a look into the complex life of that time.
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Sarah Kemble Knight's signature
