A Window on the Past – Noah B. Knight, Civil War veteran and longtime town clerk

Active in politics and community affairs, Noah B. Knight was a well-known member of the Cape Elizabeth/South Portland community in the mid- to late-1800s. He was alive at the same time as the famous shipbuilder, Thomas E. Knight, but if they were related, it would be a very distant relationship.

We’ve gone back several generations and have not yet found any common ancestor between the two men. Let’s take a closer look at the life of this interesting and influential town clerk.

City officers and aldermen, city of South Portland, 1899-1900. Mayor Edward C. Reynolds is seated in the front row, center. Noah B. Knight, city clerk, is seated in the front row, far right. South Portland Historical Society photo

Noah B. Knight was born in Cape Elizabeth [South Portland] in January, 1839. He was the son of a sea captain who was also named Noah B. Knight. The family made their home in the Ferry Village section of the town. Noah’s dad was reportedly lost at sea around 1856 when Noah was still a teenager. He married young, in 1858 when he was 19 years old, to Hannah Cushing, also of Cape Elizabeth. By 1860, he was working as a cooper, supporting both his wife and his mother. He and Hannah would have two children: daughter Ella was born in 1860 and son William in 1862.

In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company E of the 17th Maine Volunteer Infantry. The company mustered at Camp Abraham Lincoln in the Ligonia neighborhood of Cape Elizabeth. Like many young men of his time, he headed south to fight for the Union. He was documented as sick in a convalescent camp and was hospitalized in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1863. He recovered and would continue serving. He was honorably discharged in June, 1865.

The time away was apparently not good for his marriage, however; Hannah filed for divorce in 1865 and was granted the divorce and custody of their children in October.

By 1870, Noah was still living in Ferry Village, rooming with a family there and working as a house painter. He married Susan Trefethen in 1871. When they married, Susan already had two daughters from a prior marriage: Edith and Nancy. Her first husband, James Trefethen, had been lost at sea. Noah and Susan had three more children: Fred was born in 1872, Lucy in 1877, and Berta Estelle in 1880.

Noah Knight, city clerk, shown sitting in his office in the Masonic building on Ocean Street, South Portland, circa 1899. South Portland Historical Society photo

Noah Knight was a fun-loving and well-liked resident of Ferry Village. In 1872 when a group of community members met for a so-called “district meeting” to elect unofficial officers of the village, he joined in with several other men to vie for positions. Noah ended up winning the “election” with four other men. In 1873, the Ferry Village school district elected him to serve as their clerk, a position he held for many years.

When the temperance movement began to spread in Maine in the 1870s, Noah became a founding member of the Ferry Village Temperance Reform Club when it was established in 1876. He would later serve as its president.

At the town meeting in March, 1883, the citizens of Cape Elizabeth elected Noah Knight to serve as their town clerk. The town clerk, later known as the city clerk after we adopted the city form of government in 1898, was at first an elected position; when we later had aldermen as representatives, it was an appointed position.

It is a sign of Noah Knight’s popularity, and skill at his job, that is reflected in his 18 years of service as town/city clerk. Many town/city positions would turn over frequently, depending on which political party was in power, but regardless if the community was leaning Republican or Democrat, Noah Knight continued to be reappointed.

Personal items carried by Noah B. Knight during the Civil War. South Portland Historical Society photo

Throughout Noah Knight’s life, he was a proud veteran of the Civil War, a member of the South Portland Veterans Association and someone who you would see marching in annual parades. He was a prominent member of the Bosworth Post of the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic). He served as secretary of the Cape Elizabeth Soldiers and Sailors Monument Association, playing a key role in the creation of the monument that still stands today next to the First Congregational Church on Meeting House Hill.

Noah’s wife Susan died in 1897. He married for a third time in October, 1900, to the widow Eva Miller.

Knight died of pneumonia at his home on West High Street in May, 1901. He was 62 years old. Noah is buried with his wife Susan at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in South Portland. Some of the items that he carried in his knapsack during the Civil War are in the collections of the South Portland Historical Society and are put on exhibit in the society’s museum at Bug Light Park.

The items include his toothbrush, a razor, eating utensils, his canteen and a small Bible.

An invitation to the dedication of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in 1897, signed by Noah Knight. South Portland Historical Society image

A letter from Noah Knight to Edward C. Reynolds, asking if they might raise funds for the Soldiers and Sailors Monument by holding public meetings in neighborhoods across the city. South Portland Historical Society photo

South Portland Historical Society offers a free Online Museum with nearly 17,000 images available for viewing with a keyword search. You can find it at https://sphistory.pastperfectonline.com and, if you appreciate what we do, feel free to make a donation by using the donation button on the home page.

If you have photographs or other information to share about South Portland’s past, we hope you will reach out to us. South Portland Historical Society can be reached at 207-767-7299, by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com, or by mail at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106.

Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society. She can be reached at sphistory04106@gmail.com.