Ohio History Journal

GEORGE WELLS KNIGHT

 

Dr. George Wells Knight joined the Faculty of the

Ohio State University in 1885. He served as teacher

of History in that institution to within a short time of

his death, which occurred Wednesday morning, Febru-

ary 10, 1932. In this long and uninterrupted service,

his teaching and personality left an impression upon a

large number of students who in their turn will transmit

it in an ever widening circle of influence.

When he came to accept a position in the University,

he found here an enrollment of 323 students. Today the

enrollment has grown to 15,126. The influence of a

thorough, earnest, enthusiastic teacher, will long sur-

vive him, and all of these was Dr. Knight. While his

devotion to his chosen profession kept him close to the

University and his well grounded conservatism pre-

vented excursions in the fields of fantastic and doubtful

experiment, he was not unmindful or neglectful of his

duties to the community and exemplified throughout his

career the ideal of the scholarly citizen.

George Wells Knight was born in Ann Arbor, Mich-

igan, June 25, 1858. He was the son of Johnson Wells

and Cornelia Hibbard Knight. He was of New Eng-

land ancestry. His paternal and maternal ancestors had

served in the Revolution. He was great-grandson to

Rufus Johnson, who had served in the Fourth Regiment

of the Connecticut Line; great-great-grandson of Obe-

diah Johnson, a colonel of the Connecticut Militia, who

served as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Continental Army.

(352)

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George Wells Knight           353 He was a great-grandson of Jeptha and Mary Johnson Hibbard; great-great-grandson of Rufus Hibbard (Hebbard) who served in the Connecticut Militia and was imprisoned; great-great-great-grandson of William

Hibbard; captain of the Connecticut Militia. Obediah Johnson was born and died in Canterbury, Connecticut (1735-1801.) Dr. Knight was a direct descendant of William Bradford, first Governor of Plymouth Colony. George Wells Knight was educated in the public schools and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Vol. XLI--23.

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354      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Michigan. From the latter institution he received the

degree A. B. in 1878, the degree of A. M. in 1883 and

the degree of Ph. D. in 1884. He was principal of the

Lansing High School 1879-1881; instructor of history

in Ann Arbor High School 1883-1885. In 1885 he was

called to the Ohio State University at Columbus, Ohio,

where he served as professor of History and political

science, 1885-1898; American history and political

science 1898-1909. He was chairman of the Graduate

School 1904-1908 and dean of the College of Education

1914-1920. He served as Managing Editor of the Ohio

Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, 1887-1889;

member of the Ohio Commission to the Jamestown Ex-

position 1907; member of the Ohio Constitutional Con-

vention of 1912. Member of the American Economic

Association; American Historical Association; Ameri-

can Political Science Association, and National Educa-

tional Association. Member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi

Delta Kappa, Phi Delta Phi and Psi Upsilon societies,

and Sons of the American Revolution. He was a mem-

ber of the First Congregational Church, of the Uni-

versity Club and the Kit Kat Club of Columbus.

Dr. Knight was author of the following:

History of Land Grants for Education in the North-

west Territory 1885; The Government of the People of

Ohio, 1896; History of Education in Ohio, (of this last

he was co-author with Dr. John R. Commons) 1891.

He edited a new edition of Guizot's History of Civili-

zation in Europe, with critical and supplementary notes,

in 1896. He contributed a number of monographs to

educational and historical periodicals.

He was fond of travel and found time in his busy

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George Wells Knight           355

university life to visit different sections of the United

States, and foreign lands. In 1889-1890 he went to

continental Europe and England and studied in the uni-

versities of Halle, Freiburg and Berlin; he spent the

summer of 1902 in rural Scotland and manufacturing

cities of England, and the summer of 1907 in Cornwall

and Devon. He again sojourned in continental Europe,

England, Scotland and Ireland 1908-1909, and studied

in the libraries of Paris and London. After the close

of the World War, in 1922, he journeyed to central and

southern Europe, Algeria and Egypt. On this tour,

which included Sicily and Czechoslovakia, he made

notes on social, civic and political conditions and inter-

viewed eminent administrative officers of the countries

visited. In 1924 he was a tourist in the Bermuda

Islands, and the following year made an extended trip

to South America. In 1929 he visited the Pacific coast

and made a voyage to Hawaii; two years later, 1931,

he made a pleasant sojourn in Mexico. It is needless to

say that in all these journeys he was a keen observer

and brought back a wealth of first-hand information to

his associates and friends. Among the eminent men

with whom he came into contact was Honorio Pueyrre-

don, Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary

from Argentina to the United States, who at the re-

quest of Dr. Knight came to Columbus to deliver the

annual address before the Kit Kat Club, in April, 1926.

As already stated, Dr. Knight was a delegate to the

Ohio Constitutional convention of 1912. Delegates to

this convention were elected by popular vote. It is in-

dicative of the faith of the electors of Columbus and

Franklin County in his qualifications for this important

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356      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

post that in a field of ten candidates, with three to elect,

Dr. Knight led the ticket with a plurality of 4014. In the

convention he was a faithful and indefatigable worker.

He served on the standing committees on Arrangement

and Phraseology; Education; Liquor Traffic; and Mu-

nicipal Government. He was appointed chairman of

the select committee on Reporting and Publishing the

Debates of the Convention, and it was due in no small

measure to his influence that the debates appeared in

printed form. After a long and tiresome discussion of

the Initiative and Referendum proposal, it was decided

to refer the entire subject, including the proposal and

pending amendments, to a select committee to report a

proposal in revised form for action of the convention.

Dr. Knight was appointed a member of this committee

and performed an important service in aiding to put the

measure into definite form. After the committee on

Municipal Government had spent much time in consid-

eration and reported a lengthy proposal in fourteen sec-

tions, the chairman of the committee requested Dr.

Knight to present the proposal to the convention. While

he had not practiced law, he had previously been ad-

mitted to the bar. It was a somewhat unusual tribute

to his ability that the chairman of this committee

should have asked Dr. Knight to present this important

proposal to the convention. Its provisions were almost

entirely new, and its presentation naturally called forth

many questions from the delegates, which were ably

answered by Dr. Knight. The proposal finally passed,

was approved by the people at the subsequent special

election, and is now Article XVIII, of the Constitution.

Dr. Knight was long a member of the Kit Kat Club

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George Wells Knight           357

of Columbus, Ohio. He was regular in attendance when

in the city and a frequent contributor of papers based

upon his wide study and extensive travels. His knowl-

edge and personality made him a valuable and congenial

member, and it is the testimony of his daughter that he

was regular in attendance because he thoroughly en-

joyed the associations of the Club. It will be recalled

that on the occasion of his last attendance, after Pro-

fessor Graves had read his delightful paper on "Poetry,"

Dr. Knight rose and in few well chosen words expressed

his satisfaction and pride in recalling that Professor

Graves had been a student under him. He was always

pleased to note the success of his former students.

Dr. Knight was a life member of the Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society. His name ap-

pears in the first list of members published by the so-

ciety. In its first volume of Publications appears a

contribution by Dr. Knight entitled, "The Society and

the Quarterly."  This brief contribution was prepared

with his usual painstaking care and is as timely now as

when it was written about forty-six years ago. He was

the first editor of the Quarterly and manifested much

interest in the growth of the Museum and Library in

recent years.

Dr. Knight married Mariette Amanda Barnes, of

Lansing, Michigan, January 12, 1882. Of this union

two daughters were born: Margaret Amanda and Ade-

laide. Of this family Mrs. Knight and her daughter

Margaret Amanda survive.

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358       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

DR. RIGHTMIRE'S TRIBUTE

President Rightmire in his tribute to Dr. Knight said:

"He was an eminent builder of the Ohio State University.

His services spanned almost a half century; when he came the

university was only 12 years old and at the time of his death had

reached the age of 60 years. He, therefore, not only witnessed,

but was a part--a very moving part--of its entire growth. His

name is found in university records on the most important com-

mittees, his thoughts formed a substantial part of all university

faculty debates, his arguments were always well considered and

presented with precision and cumulative effect. He was often in

intimate conference with three of the successive presidents of

the university, counseling on all phases of its activities.

 

REVIEWS WORK

"He promoted and directed the growth of the department of

American History and gathered about him a notable staff of

teachers. His most notable contribution to the educational de-

velopment of the institution was made in this department. He

also had charge of the college of law for a year and was a pro-

fessor on the staff of that college for many years. He was also

for a period of six years the dean of the college of education and

brought to bear in that college his marked ability for vigorous

administration and sound thinking.

"During all these years he was devoted to the welfare and the

purposes of the First Congregational Church and was seldom

absent from its regular services. He made a material contribu-

tion to the thinking and the action of the Ohio Constitutional

Convention of 1912 and his ability to use precise English can be

traced in a number of the amendments which were adopted. He

had considerable business interests which brought him into con-

tact with some of the foremost men in the city. Likewise he

was interested in social groups where constructive thinking on

public affairs, as well as literary matters, was enjoyed by the

members. Always his interest in the public schools of the city

was deep and stimulating.

"The class room and the study filled his life in large measure

and the most enduring memorials of his vigorous and searching

teaching and of his relationships through the years are the thou-

sands of students to whom he devoted himself and their memories

of these experiences. To the teacher these are the fragrant and

buoyant testimonies."

Columbus Dispatch,

February 11, 1932.

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George Wells Knight                 359 EDITORIAL TRIBUTE GEORGE WELLS KNIGHT In the death of Dr. George W. Knight, professor emeritus of history in Ohio State University, this community has lost a citizen of broad intellectual interest, of conscientious and useful participation in public affairs, local and general, and of thorough scholarship in his chosen field of university work. In his 43 years of active teaching, more than 16,000 young men and women came directly under his influence; and it was this personal influence of teaching, with a group of interested pupils sitting before him, that especially appealed to him as a university professor, not the opportunity "to write books which nobody will read," as he himself once put it. And many are of the opinion that it would be far better for the students if that point of view were more generally held by college boards, administrative officials and faculty members. The modern university, with its wide range of subjects and large faculties, inevitably will have, and should have, many types of men in its professorial chairs, differing in their range of inter- ests, differing in their methods of teaching, differing in their per- sonality--but the type so admirably represented by Prof. George Wells Knight might well be more numerously represented than it is, in all our educational institutions. Columbus Dispatch, February 11, 1932.

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