Amanda (McDaniel) Murphy (1863 - 1939)

Born 17 Aug 1863 in Kentucky, United States

Descendants

Died 6 Feb 1939 at age 75 in Paragould, Greene, Arkansas, United States

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Biography

Amanda or "Mandy" was born to parents James K. and Jane McDaniel in Kentucky on Aug. 17, 1863 during the War Between the States. (Same birthday as my mother Sandy.) At the age of 17, she married James H. Knott. Their children were Marshall Knott, Agnes Mary Knott, Raymond C. Knott, Harry Knott and William Knott, Sr. Raymond was our great grandfather. His daughter was Mattie Lee (nee Knott Tanner) Bell.

Sadly Mandy's husband James died at the age of 40 in 1897 leaving Mandy to operate their farm along the banks of the Mississippi River in Pemiscot County, MO (near Caruthersville.) At that time her 5 children ranged in ages from 3 through 16.

That same year, there was a massive flood of the Mississippi River causing the levee to break near their house forcing Amanda and her kids to flee. After the flood, a new levee was built to reflect the change in direction of the river and her house was moved so it would be protected by the new levee.

I don't know what she grew on her farm but I have driven in that area and there is a lot of rice and cotton currently planted. I'm sure that although her farm was in a precarious position due to the river, her soil benefited greatly from frequent flooding. I don't know what that would mean in terms of land value -- probably not much.

She lost the farm eventually, perhaps due to debts owed from flooding and also due to land loss due to change in the river course and movement of the levee. By 1900, she was living with her brother-in-law William G. Knott on his farm in Little Prairie, Pemiscot County, MO.

Mandy later married Hugh C. E. Murphy in 1903 but their marriage was short lived. He was quite a bit younger than her and that appears to be a factor. In 1910, her son Marshall Knott died at the age of 30 while she was 47 years old.

Thereafter she lived in Paragould and Jonesboro, AR near or with her sons Raymond and William Knott, Sr. She later died at the age of 76 from complications of a stroke at her home on Feb. 6, 1939. The "Knott Plot" at Oaklawn Cemetery is the final resting place for her two sons Raymond and William, William's two wives Mabel and Glida and possibly her other son Harry -- though his grave is also not marked.

Sources

1870, 1880, 1900, 1920, 1930 and 1940 U.S. Census

Pemiscot County Marriage license

Death certificate

Arkansas Death Index, 1914- 1950, Ancestry.com

Obituary in The Jonesboro Evening Sun, Jonesboro, Ark., Feb. 7, 1939, Pg. 1.