Sarah Kemble Knight
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Sarah Kemble Knight (b. 1666, Boston - d. 1727) a preacher and traveler, 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 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.
Little is known of her later life. She seems to have removed to Norwalk, Connecticut, and there have gotten into trouble for selling liquors to Indians - an offense she herself charged to her maid.
[edit] Literature
- M. C. Tyler, History of American literature, volume ii (New York, 1897-99)
This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.
