Sarah Kemble Knight (19 April, 1666 – 25 September, 1727) was a businesswoman, teacher and diarist. Her journey from Boston to New York City provides historians one of the few first-hand accounts of traveling through Colonial New England.
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Fun Facts about Sarah Kemble Knight:
- Sarah Kemble was born in Boston, MA to Captain Thomas Kemble and Elizabeth Treice. Captain Kemble was a merchant and Sarah was his first daughter out of five, or six children.
- On, or about, 1689 Sarah married Richard Knight. We know very little about Richard Knight, but we do know the couple had one child, Elizabeth. Richard passed away in 1703.
- Sarah Knight, keeper of a Boston boarding house and a copier of legal documents. As part of her job, she went to New Haven, CT, and New York City to act in the settlement of a friend’s dead husband’s estate.
- Mrs. Knight was also a schoolmistress, and legend has it that she taught Benjamin Franklin and the Mather children. Historians, however, think it’s just a legend as there is no proof of it.
- Sarah Kemble Knight was a smart woman and didn’t travel alone. She used reliable guides or post riders (postal delivery). This was one of the duties of the colonial post riders.
- Knight’s path from Boston to New York was along the lower post road, which was just a crude path with no markings.
- About 50 years later, Benjamin Franklin traveled the same route to standardize postal rate through distance.
- Here experience traveling ran from great hospitality to being served inedible food (but still pay for it).
- Her journal also reveals the biases of the time. The Massachusetts Native Americans are “the most salvage (savage)” and a woman who tried to overcharge her was thought to be part of a minority reviled by the Massachusetts Puritans – Quakers.
- Towards the end of her life, Sarah Kemble Knight moved to New London, CT to be with her married daughter. A businesswoman through and through, she owned a tavern and inn, as well s dabbling in land speculation.
Buy the Journal of Madam Sarah Kemble Knight from Amazon.com*
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Sources:
Boston Post Road Carved out Three Travel Routes through State | Connecticut History
Sarah Kemble Knight | Oxford Bibliographies
Sarah Kemble Knight | Wikipedia
Knight, Sarah Kemble (1666–1727) | Encyclopedia.com
Sarah Kemble Knight’s Journey through Colonial Connecticut | Connecticut History
Sarah Kemble Knight Rides the Boston Post Road. Alone. In 1704. | New England Historical Society
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