By Vikki Bynum
Filming of the movie Free State of Jones is about to begin, and announcements regarding the cast are regularly appearing in movie trade papers. Renegade South learned less than a week ago that actor Keri Russell is set to play Serena Knight, the wife of Mississippi guerrilla band leader, Newt Knight.
Keri Russell
Because Serena Turner Knight was the wife of Newt Knight, she frequently appears in narratives about the uprising popularly known as the Free State of Jones. In terms of documented facts, however, few of those narratives tell us much about what Serena felt or thought during a life punctuated by a national civil war, a local uprising led by her own husband, and several interracial relationships that occurred within her own family during the early years of racial segregation in Mississippi. This despite her long life—Serena was about 85 when she died in 1923, having outlived Newt by one year.
Keri Russell, scene from The Americans, with an expression that Serena might have worn more than once during her long and conflicted life.
Questions about Serena usually begin with the obvious one of how she reacted to her husband’s wartime alliance and sexual relationship with the former slave, Rachel. Unlike many 19th century sexual liaisons between white men and women of color, Newt and Rachel’s relationship began during the Civil War and appears to have lasted until Rachel’s death in 1889. During those years, children were born to both Serena and Rachel.
More broadly, I wish we knew more about Serena’s personal experience of the Civil War. But perhaps more than anything, I am interested in her own life within the mixed-race community that she, Newt, and Rachel, presided over. Serena is often a forgotten member of this community although she too was the biological grandmother of a generation of mixed-race children. You see, it wasn’t just Newt and Rachel who engaged in an interracial relationship, so also did two of Newt and Serena’s children, who married across the color line. There were others, as well.
Newt Knight’s home. No date; women unidentified. Photo courtesy of Earle Knight
Which brings me to the question that I find most intriguing: how did Serena react to the interracial marriages that took place around 1880 between two of her and Newt’s children with two of Rachel’s mixed-race children (neither of them fathered by Newt)? By all appearances, she accepted those marriages, as did Newt and Rachel.
The photo below, in which an aged Serena is seated before the family of Jeffrey Knight, reveals her long presence in the mixed-race Knight community. Although her daughter Mollie had died a year or two earlier, Serena still lived in the household of her son-in-law, Jeffrey, son of Rachel Knight. Next to Jeffrey is his second wife, Sue Ella Smith, who was from the mixed-race Smith-Ainsworth family.
Serena Knight late in life, seated with members of her mixed-race family. Photo courtesy of Frances Waller Jackson
Because of Rachel Knight’s death in 1889 at the age of 49, many of the mixed-race grandchildren knew their white grandmother, Serena, far better than they knew their mixed-race grandmother. The following paragraph from Chapter four (p. 99) of my book, The Long Shadow of the Civil War, captures a bit of Serena’s remarkable life:
Not only Newt, but also his white wife, Serena, broke the social rules of southern segregationist society. Although Serena left his household sometime between 1880 and 1900, she did not completely leave the racially mixed Knight community, even after several of her grown children married white partners and left. Rather, she lived with her daughter Mollie and son-in-law Jeffrey (Rachel’s son) until after her daughter’s death around 1917. Even after Mollie’s death, Serena remained close to Jeffrey and her grandchildren. They were, after all, a family–a multiracial one that Serena, as well as Newt, embraced.
Life in Civil War Mississippi and the segregated society that followed was for more complex than many will ever know. The story of the Knight community provides a glimpse into only one example of that complexity.
Note: For my earlier 2008 essay on Serena Knight, click here.—vb
Free State of Jones, by Victoria Bynum
Long Shadow of the Civil War, by Victoria Bynum
Categories: The Free State of Jones
Renegade South 
I will attempt to discuss what I envision to be the dynamics in the relationship of Serena Turner Knight, with her marriage in about 1859 to Newton Knight. I see this picture in my mind of Serena and Newton, stealing a kiss or two before their marriage. Probably dancing at someone’s homestead to fiddling and a harp. I can see the start of a wonderful, and romantic beginning between the two, because I promise you, even though it was 150 years ago, most young people “courted” much in the same way as we do today, with love and affection, however they were country folk in the Piney woods.
As were most women of the south, she was dominated and controlled, and OWNED by her husband. The bible says, so, and like 150 years ago, we pretty are seeing the same thing happening now in this 21st century. Don’t you think? I really don’t think as her marriage aged, that it reflected a trusting and equal relationship. I don’t know if that existed within the counties, because men were expected to “jump the fence” so to speak. And women had to deal with it, I see Serena and Rachel having a common cause (with varying degrees) of sharing what was like slave labor. Both of them were all too busy being Mothers. That included work from sun up to sun down, cooking, quilting, sewing, washing, tending the garden, eggs, and animals (I’d think she was compared to oxen), and out plowing in the fields. Yet at the end of their day they had to wash their garments, under and outer garments for the next day. Not to mention, keeping the hearth going, fire wood, and fuel for indoor lights. For women of that era, cleanliness made you a genuine woman. And the power she had came from having children, that was another mark of being a woman, and there is where she developed her self respect. I think that is true of all women back then. Serena never learned to read and write. She knew the bible stories, and probably told them over and over, as was done to her. And the civil war brought everybody to brink of insanity. I am sensing a return of that era today.
I look at the photo above, and know that she did indeed teach certain feminine aspects to her daughters, and granddaughters. I look at the nice white cotton dresses (cleanliness), the ribbon belt, the shoes, the see the boy in overalls, and see the other with nice jackets, and hats, and nice hair styles, and I look at Serena, she looks like a granny who has aged, who has done her job as best as a woman could. I think she had to face the horror of war, it stared her in the face, everywhere she looked in those piney woods, was fear. And I wonder if like other men, Newt became adventurous, and was sexually intrigued by Rachel. I don’t know if Rachel felt sexually coercion during the war, or that it turned into love affair. I don’t know how else to question his reason for allowing the relationship to continue, other than their love and affection. Did Serena ever accept his reason? I would think she likely accepted Rachel helping her husband, because she wanted him to safely come home to her. From 1880 till her death she says she was widowed. Most women of that era suffered from loneliness, and she was no different, but when the community shunned her, and I believe they did, she did what any mother would do, and accept her children, and grandchildren, rather than disown them. I don’t think she was misguided in doing so, in making a home with her family. Maybe I’m off course here. I’d like to hear other suggestions, or reflections on their lives, especially from women.
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Thank you, Frances, for such a thoughtful essay on the likely texture of Serena’s life. Nineteenth-century farm wives were indeed “beasts of burden” who worked from sunup to sundown. Most white women—and this included Serena—were NOT the “plantation mistresses” of Gone with the Wind fame, who were waited on and served by enslaved women.
After the war, work likely became even harder in the Depression-ridden South for rural white and freed women such as Serena and Rachel. Your point that they were likely bonded by work and their children has been suggested by descendants, especially in the 1952 autobiography, Mississippi Girl, written by Rachel’s daughter, Anna Knight.
Play time was scarce for both boys and girls, Anna wrote, because “both girls and boys worked hard, felling trees with axes and chopping cotton all day. . . . There was no rest for women,” she emphasized, because they worked in both the home and the fields. (Quoted in my book, Free State of Jones, p. 59.)
Your point that the entire family was shunned during these years by many of their neighbors and relatives is also verified by family memories. Many Knight descendants have told me that their elder ancestors assured them they were NOT related to Newt Knight, if they mentioned him at all. And yet, there were also those who never turned their backs on the man who had led the Knight Company during the Civil War, or on his mixed-race family. The transcript of the 1948 Davis Knight miscegenation trial reveals the deep bonds that survived into the 20th century between several families that joined Newt Knight in opposing the Confederacy.
Thank you for sharing your deep knowledge of Jones County with us. (Note: Frances is a descendant of Jones County folks, and a dedicated researcher of their history)
Vikki
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I am looking for information Thomas Jefferson Knight Newt son is he the one that was sent to jail for marrying a white woman in Mississippi and serve 5 years
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Thank you for your question, Sherita. No, it was not Thomas Jefferson Knight who was charged with marrying across the color line; it was Newt, Rachel, and Serena’s grandson, Davis Knight. Davis Knight was convicted, but that conviction was overturned by the Mississippi Supreme Court, as I detail in two of my books, “The Free State of Jones,” and “The Long Shadow of the Civil War.” You can also read more about Davis Knight here at Renegade South by clicking on the following: https://renegadesouth.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/the-life-and-death-of-davis-knight-after-state-vs-knight/
Vikki
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Hello Vikki; When I grew up in Soso, separation between the races was obvious, however, in that little stretch of Jones, Covington and Jasper Counties, I don’t remember any major confrontations between the two. In other parts of Jones County, the Klan used those areas as launching pads for, what turned out to be, atrocious actions against people of color throughout other parts of Mississippi. Not so much where Newt and his followers lived; During court ordered integration, in the late 60s and early 70s, there were both black and white students who were more than curious about each other. Because were were old enough to put two and two together, it dawned on a lot of us that there were things unique to our little neck of the woods. As long as black people “stayed in their place,” there seemed to be something protecting them. God certainly works in “mysterious ways” to bring people together. This history is so complex, yet dynamic.
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Hi Dale,
Thank you for your interesting observations about racial tensions in this region during the time you were growing up in Soso. How I wish I’d been able to interview you during the time I was researching the Free State of Jones. Unfortunately, one always meets important people AFTER one’s book comes out. But that’s what makes this blog so useful—we are able to constantly update and reflect on our knowledge about this, yes, “complex yet dynamic” history.
Vikki
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Hi, Vikki
Do you have an idea of a family tree for Newt Knight as he is my Great x4 Grandfather or it might be x3 not totally sure still trying to put pieces together. Trying to find Choctaw heritage. My great great grandmother was
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Hi Bobbie,
I’ve not heard that Newt Knight had Choctaw ancestry, though you may have gained such ancestry through the marriages of his descendants. Newt’s father Albert migrated to Mississippi from Georgia as a young man with his father, John “Jackie” Knight, and his mother, Keziah Davis Knight. Jackie Knight was originally from North Carolina, probably the Edgecombe County area. No one has ever documented exactly who Jackie’s father was. (His mother Mary was from nearby Hertford County, NC, but her maiden name is unknown). Jackie married Keziah Davis in Richmond Co, Georgia in 1798. She was the daughter of John and Sarah Davis of Appling, Columbia County, Georgia. I’ve not seen any documentation of Newt’s ancestry that goes back further than that.
There is a popular legend that presents Newt’s mother, Mary Mason Rainey, as having been the “ward” of Jackie Knight before she married Albert. Newt’s son Tom (who made a number of incorrect or unverifiable statements in his book) claimed Mason was an orphan whose surname was actually Griffin, not Rainey. He, too, claimed that Jackie and Keziah Knight raised her. Martha Wheeler, an enslaved member of the Knight household, said that she “had always been told” that Mason joined the Knight family in North Carolina after her own family died of the flux. The most fantastic story is one that claims Mason took the last name of “Rainey” because she appeared on the Knight’s door step on a rainy night. These stories are all interesting, but unverified. There were lots of Raineys in Jones County, and In all likelihood, Mason came from one of those families.
Vikki
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Hello Vikki, I am writing because my grandfather used to own most part of SOSO. The Knight family are relatives of ours and we know the whole history…feel free to reach out if you would like to know more.
Wendy
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Thank you, Wendy! In the meantime, if there are any insights you’d care to share here on Renegade South, please do!
Vikki
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Please share….I am directly descended from Ruben Knight, Newt’s brother…Ruben is my great, great grandfather…..so Newt would be my great, great Uncle……I have some info on Newt and Rachel, and their kids……not enough for that matter….I have mapped back to Miles Jessie Knight (1750-1783)who fought in the Revolutionary War, and this would be my 5 greats grandfather…….any info, true stories, photos I can save….I would greatly appreciate this very much……and I have your book…..AWESOME!!!! Gave me a lot of history I didn’t know!!!!!!
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Hi Wendy. My mother was from MS, her father was Steven Knight. I wonder if we’re related?
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Ms. Vikki,
I started researching my family history when i was 18. My great grandfather was almost 100 and i wanted to know about my family. He never told me we were related to Newt Knight. I found that out years after my great grandfathers death. He was married to Serena’s niece. Im also related to Ethel Knight on her mothers side. She is my great grandfathers niece. It was really strange to know my great grandfather never told anyone he was related to newt through marriage.
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Dr. Bynum hello I was a student in your American Womens class at TSU prob around 2003?. You actually helped me find the last name of my father’s mother because we were estranged and l never forgot your kindness or brilliance. I wanted to tell you congratulations on having your work come to the big screen as no doubt you must be the main scholar whose research the film is derived from. As soon as I saw that MM was filming the Free State of Jones in NOLA I knew that you must be involved given your prolific research and publications on the subject and I just wanted to tell you that you were one of the best professors I had at TSU and I’m so very happy more people will know about your work. You were always kind so generous with your time and so smart and I’m so glad that I was able to experience your brilliance for myself. Best wishes to you Dr. Bynum. Sincerely, Catherine Clark
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Catherine,
It is so good to hear from you! I enjoyed helping you find that information on your family name when you were my student; those sorts of family mysteries are what keep me fascinated by stories such as the Free State of Jones. Thank you for your congrats on the movie. I’ve just left three days of visiting the movie set in Covington, Louisiana, and watched Matt McConaughey perform some very intense scenes—he’s doing wonderful work!
I hope you’re doing well, and please stay in touch!
Vikki
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Congrats on this chance to make millions of Americans aware of this fascinating aspect of our history brought to light through your scholarship.
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Thank you so much, Pat Young! Pretty exciting to realize that Newt Knight—and by extension, Southern Unionists—is about to become very well known.
Vikki
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I also have a relationship in my family from right after the civil war in Jones County, Mississippi that is a mystery. Lydia “Agnes” Redmon McBride (some think she was an Indian) was married to David McBride, who died at the end of the war in 1864. However, she had my grandmother, Emma, in 1867 and another child, Monroe in 1870. All ancestry information says they are the children of Obediah Lynes. In the 1870 census, Agnes is three pages down from Obediah. Here is what is interesting, though. Agnes was 10 years older than Obediah. Obediah was married to Sarah and some of her children were born around the same time. Obediah was in the Civil War (Confederate side) the whole time, and was even a prisoner of war. He was a doctor and a preacher. It’s so hard to connect these two. As I was investigating, I read your blog and it got me interested in this couple above. Oh, how I wish I knew the story.
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Very interesting story, Susan. Here’s the link to an essay I wrote for Renegade South a few years ago that includes Obediah Lynes (referred to as “Obe Lyons” in the records I found)—another very colorful story to go with yours!
https://renegadesouth.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/horse-thieves-and-cattle-rustlers-the-white-family-of-jones-county-mississippi/
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Wow, that was interesting. I know his father killed his son-in-law. Obediah is very confusing. Started off so bad, but moved to Alabama and started a church with his wife. In fact, he was their first preacher. He was also a doctor and helped many people. Maybe he was a truly “born again.” I wish I knew the story between he and Agnes McBride. Can make up a lot in my head! Ha/ha. You are so wonderful to answer everyone who writes here. Another reason I found your blog is that Jacob Lofland, a young man in the new movie with Mathew, is from our little bitty community in Yell County, Arkansas. His mother was at church and was talking about how Jacob was in a movie called the Free State of Jones. (Sorry I hadn’t heard about it yet). I said, “Jones Mississippi?” She thought it was in Texas. I told my husband and he knew it was Jones County Mississippi because he had read your book. He is an avid Civil War buff. I guess I never told him I had family from Jones, Mississippi so he never mentioned it to me. Life is so funny. Thanks for listening!!!
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I know its been a couple of years so I’m not sure you will get this post but I think its worth noting. I found a copy of Agnes McBride’s Pension request form for David McBride after his death. Obediah, my great great great grandfather, signed as a witness to her mark on the official documents. He was there with her in 1865 when she did this. He was also married to my great great great grandmother at the time. I’m wondering if this scandal didn’t drive the Lynes family to Washington County, Alabama where they ended up settling. I’m not sure if that help or deepens the mystery of these two.
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I am Newt Knight’s great great granddaughter, my grandmother was necia abigail anderson knight. I have the photograph pictured above, and many more. I wonder what became of my Uncle Olin Knight’s homeplace in Clinton,MS. I was young when my family visited there. I remember, the outhouse, the dirt floors and the pond and Newt Knight’s rifle above the fireplace. Also, the big hound dogs and I also have a picture of my cousin Richard and Calvin Knight holding 2 german shepard dogs. One of these days i hope to meet some of my relatives from SoSo, MS I have met Florence Blaylock and Yvonne Bivens thru Facebook and phone. Cannot wait for the movie
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Janet, I really hope you and I can meet someday too–we’ve been corresponding for so many years! Maybe when the movie comes out, they’ll have a premiere in Jones County and we can all congregate there.
Vikki
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The picture of Newt’s home has the 2 women in it. The thin lady I’m not sure about, but the other looks like a Valentine. She has my Granny (Valentine) Knight’s same shape & body structure. Granny was the daughter of James Morgan Valentine & Mary Mason Knight-Valentine.she had 5 whole sisters. And 6 1/2 sisters, 4 1/2 brothers from his 1st marriage. Most of the 10 1/2 siblings & their mother moved to CO.
Do you know what year this picture was taken?
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Thanks for the identification, Kimberly! No, I don’t know the date this photo was taken; sure wish I did!
Vikki
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Does anyone know if the Newt Knight home is still standing. I think it WS close to the Knight Cemetery between Soso and stringer.
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On a lighter note, I love how those three horses in back seem to be posing as if they’re just as much a part of the family as everyone else!
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Estuve leyendo todas las historias relacionadas a este evento. Gracias por escarbar y rescatar hechos tan significativos para la historia de los EE.UU. Abrazos.
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Today I just watched the movie on Netflix, what an amazing story and to find out it was based on a true story and to have all these descendants writing about their family connections on here, is awesome, I love history, am all the way in New Zealand, originally from England as a child.
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Thank you, Linda! Yes, the movie is wonderful for letting the world know about this anti-Confederate uprising and the incredible community that emerged from it and endures to this day.
Vikki
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I ended up on this website after watching the movie. Newt was a brave and admirable man in many ways, but certainly not all. I wondered after watching the part of movie where Serena was sitting on the porch holding Rachel’s baby and I believe living with her husband and his new wife. I word it this way as no person ever referred to Serena as divorced from her husband Newt and by all accounts he couldn’t marry Rachel. I think of this as a woman. Newt had sex with Rachel while married to Serena. Then Serena sticks around living with the woman he betrayed her with. How strange and disgusting. If I was Serena I would have left my husband after I was aware of his love affair. I know women tolerated so much but we know if the shoes were on the other foot Newt would not have sat on the porch with Serena’s new love! Newt liked to read the Bible, but the adultery and fornication commands seemed to have been ignored.
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Joan,
The movie romanticized Newt’s relations with women. Yes, he was an adulterer. My two books, Free State of Jones and Long Shadow of the Civil War, tell as full a story as the factual evidence supports. As for why Serena did not leave—where would she have gone? Her entire family was part of the mixed race community, and in those times, such communities were shunned by most whites. What Newt did was not unusual among white men, but most kept their adultery secret, interracial or not.
In short, Hollywood wanted Newt to appear as a more religious and chaste “hero” than he was in real life.
None of this changes the fact, of course, that Newt Knight led an insurrection against the Confederacy that reflected the Unionist loyalties of a large segment of Jones and surrounding counties.
Vikki
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Thank you for your reply Vikki. I felt sorry for Serena’s character in the movie, but I understand in those times she was more stuck than modern women would be. Yes Newt was a hero, just not hers.
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Glad you watched the movie. One thing to consider, back in the day, and even now, Family is Family, and women valued their families. Serena wasn’t just sticking around, she was proud of her daughters and sons. And women had farms to run, apples, and gardens, and pigs, and chickens, and quilting, and producing for the good of Family. Under the circumstances, what was suppose to do? She did not remove herself from her family, and her homeland. I think she had a gracious manner, and supported her family, and yes went to church on Sunday.
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Thank you, Frances, for sharing your knowledge of the area and families with us.
Vikki
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For me history also makes us appreciate the present times. I would be interested in learning Anna Knight’s perspective as well.
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I discuss Anna’s long life in FSOJ and Long Shadow of the Civil War. She’s a fascinating study in her own right: a Seventh-Day Adventist missionary who founded the Knight’s private school in Soso, MS.
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Hi Frances, I appreciate your reply. I do believe Serena was proud of her children and the work she did on the farm. If I lived in that period I don’t know if I would have done anything different with my knowledge of the time period. However that was the golden part of thinking what I would do in our present time in history. In 2020 we truly don’t and wouldn’t be expected to live with our husband and his lovers children. I am glad I have the option to have this type of pride and freedom.
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Well put, Joan. I appreciate your thoughts. Serena is such an elusive figure in this story. So is Rachel, for that matter. Newt rebelled against the South’s class structure, but seems to have relished being the patriarch of a large household. But we know so little about their day-to-day lives. Anna Knight, Rachel’s granddaughter, gives one of the few contemporary descriptions of life on the Knight farm during the 1890s.
Vikki
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I can’t seem to find the best place to post this, so just going to plunk it down here. I’m related to many Knight descendants on my dad’s side (Ainsworth / Duckworth / Anderson, etc.) but I have a 2nd cousin on my mother’s side who is a Knight descendant on her paternal lines and in chatting with her about it because I wanted to connect her line to what I have in my Ancestry tree, because it would be another way we’d be related. She can trace her line back to John ‘Jackie’ Knight and wife Keziah but that’s where we ran into problems. It hasn’t helped that there are said to be errors on his grave monument.
Some souces have that John ‘Jackie’ had two wives, Keziah Moss and Keziah Davis. Are those two different women or the same woman? My cousin is from Jackie’s son William Henry ‘Pap’ Knight and I”m uncertain about his mother. Also, so many have John ‘Jackie’ as John Carter ‘Jackie’ Knight.
My cousin says Jackie’s dad was named Jesse but so many people have him as Miles Jesse.
The issues really came up when there was Native American ancestry showing on the lines on Geni and then they got cut. So my cousin who shares a Native American line with me on our maternal lines but actually has more Native American DNA than I do thought that must account for some of her otherwise unknown Native ancestry. After the line was cut we realized she needs to be able to trace her line accurately The curator on Geni put this note on the profile for Jesse Knight:
Curator Note from Erin Ishimoticha (11/1/2015):
I can find no proof that Miles Knight was Jesse Knight. Something wrong with this data.
And therein lies the problem. Everyone makes my cousin’s ancestor Miles / Miles Jesse Knight without any sourced information to back it up and she doesn’t think her ancestor had the name Miles.
It would be a huge help if you can shed light on the genealogy from William Henry ‘Pap’ Knight back so we can get the connections correct in our trees, especially for my cousin who is descended from these lines.
Thanks in advance for any help sorting these lines out.
Best regards,
Debbie Gambrell
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Debbie, My apologies; I meant to get back to you sooner. You ask a lot of questions, and I am not a Knight family genealogist, per se. However, I can tell you that I found good evidence that Miles Knight was NOT the father of Jackie Knight. Jesse Knight is indeed a different person, and it is possible that he is Jackie’s father—but I never found definitive proof of that.
I never heard of Jackie Knight having a wife named Keziah Moss. There is definitive proof, however, of his marriage to Keziah Davis. William H. “Pap” Knight, who married Mary Youngblood, was one of their many children.
I hope this is helpful. As you’ve noticed, it’s awfully easy on Ancestry to just accept all the kinships presented as they fly at you. When it’s a fairly common surname like Knight, the mistakes can mount up fast.
Vikki
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Thanks, Vikki. At least I can confirm to my cousin that she’s correct about Miles not being Jacki’s father. Thanks for that information.
I see that on Geni they still have in the notes:
“Miles Jesse Knight born in 1747 in Hertford, Perquimans Co whose parents were James H Knight and Elizabeth A Knight. and who enlisted 11/8/1777 as Private, 2nd NC Regiment under Col. Patton & Sargeant 2/16/1780, 10th NC Regiment.. Miles Jesse Knight’s listing on the 1786 Census New Hanover County, NC
Marriage Date: married Mary Knight in 1771 in Columbia County, Georgia, United States. Together they had the following children: John “Jackie” Knight; James Thomas? Knight; Dan Thomas Knight; Lewis Knight.”
BUT even though they left those notes in the profile of Jesse Knight, they’ve changed his name in the heading from Miles Jesse to Jesse, so I guess that’s some progress.
Debbie
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I just watched Free State of Jones and while I was educated about Southern Unionists and a different fight against the Confederate Army which isn’t often told, I came here because of being moved by the story of Serena Turner Knight.
I don’t understand how a pious man like Newton Knight who cited the Bible as his reason for fighting the Confederacy would not apply Biblical principles to his marriage with Serena. It doesn’t make sense to me how he could leave her after she bore him nine children and basically served him all those years. I can only hope that scene in the movie when Serena returns with their son was fabricated because it made me very uncomfortable at how distant Newton Knight appeared to treat them, especially his son.
And it’s not just about not legally being able to marry Rachel due to race, but the fact that he wasn’t divorced from Serena. I’m also disappointed Rachel didn’t make a better choice, too, based on the fact that Newton was already married.
I never enjoy learning about someone who did something remarkable and heroic which made a difference only to find out they weren’t upstanding in their personal life. My sympathies are with Serena.
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Thank you, Benjie, for such a thoughtful comment.
First, I’m glad you saw the movie, Free State of Jones. But I hasten to say that no movie, no matter how “historical,” is completely factual. The need for scriptwriters, directors, and producers to present their story visually—within a few hours—in a manner that presents viewers with a gripping story does not allow for absolute accuracy.
It’s difficult for a historian like myself to watch ANY historically-based movie or TV show precisely because facts, context, and analysis are central to our craft. We hope that readers will find the histories we write fascinating, but we’re not in the entertainment business.
With that caveat, I’ll respond directly to your concerns. First, I’ve seen no evidence that Newt Knight ever cited the Bible as justification for fighting against the Confederacy. In the 1930s, Newt’s son, Tom, wrote a history of the FSOJ in which he presented Newt as a God-fearing man who joined a local Primitive Baptist Church around 1880. I’ve found no evidence that Newt was religiously devout (he did become a Mormon around 1882, but not for long), and it’s my opinion that Tom Knight was trying to stifle criticisms of his father for having crossed the color line. Tom was very embarrassed by the interracial community founded by Newt and Rachel, and in which he was raised. He was alienated from Newt for most of his life, and his book contains many errors.
Second, all available evidence indicates that Serena lived in the mixed-race community until the final days of her life, and then lived with her and Newt’s son, Tom, until she died in 1923. There is no evidence that she left Newt during the Civil War, moved out of Mississippi, and then returned a few years later. The Federal Manuscript Census indicates two households on Newt’s land in which Newt, Serena, Rachel, and all their children lived beginning sometime after the Civil War. During these years, both Serena and Rachel had children by Newt.
Third, we don’t know what kind of “choices” were available to Rachel after being freed from slavery, but we know, historically, that they were poor. She had been sexually exploited by white men from the time she was barely a teenager, giving birth to her first child at about age 14 while enslaved in Georgia. A relationship with Newt, a nonslaveholding landowner who shared her hatred of the Confederacy, was likely her best option during Reconstruction, an era in which white supremacy grew and vigilante violence against freed people was common. But there’s more to this story than the movie even alluded to. Rachel died in 1889, and by the early 1890s, Newt was fathering children by George Ann, the daughter born to Rachel back in Georgia.
Fourth, Serena did not have many choices either. She made some sort of adjustment to Rachel and Newt’s sexual relationship, however, and also to the marriages of several of her and Newt’s children to children of Rachel who were born to other white men. By 1880, there were three interracial couples in the Knight community, and more would follow. Serena remained close to all her children, including her daughter, Mollie, who married Rachel’s son, Jeffrey. By 1900, after Newt and George Ann had two daughters together, Serena had moved to the home of Mollie, Jeff, and her mixed-race grandchildren. i.e., She remained a part of the mixed Knight community until the ending days of her life.
Finally, in regard to Newt’s personal behavior: As a historian, I am interested in people who lived extraordinary lives and led important movements, no matter where it takes me. I believe Newt turned against the Confederacy for the same reason that many of his neighbors did—because fighting to save slavery did not serve the interests of the nonslaveholders who comprised most of the population of Jones County. So, Newt displayed class consciousness while exercising the sexual prerogatives enjoyed by white men during this period. I doubt that he consulted the Bible on either of those choices. He differed from the average white man who crossed the color line, however, in that he did so openly and apparently raised his white and mixed-race children equally under the same roof. Likewise his grandchildren. Nor did Newt appear to treat Rachel as a concubine, as many white men would have, and did. It seems clear, however, that he was the master of his household. He definitely did not adhere to Christian moral standards of marriage.
I don’t expect you’ll think better of Newt after reading this, but at least your opinion will be based on the recorded facts. Again, thanks for your comment!
Vikki
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