William Shadrach Knox

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William Shadrach Knox bigraphy, stories - American politician

William Shadrach Knox : biography

September 10, 1843 – September 21, 1914

William Shadrach Knox (September 10, 1843–September 21, 1914) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts who served from 1895 to 1903.

Knox was the son of William Shadrach Knox Sr and Rebecca Walker, and the grandson of Samuel Knox and Mary Kimbell and Jimmy Walker and Hannah Richardson. Born in Killingly, Connecticut, he moved with his parents to Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1852; he attended the public schools and Amherst College where he studied the law. He was admitted to the bar in 1866 and commenced practice in Lawrence. In 1874 he became a member of the State house of representatives in 1874 and 1875, and he was city solicitor of Lawrence in 1875, 1876, and 1887-1890. Knox was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1895–March 3, 1903). There he served as chairman, in the Committee on Territories (Fifty-fifth through Fifty-seventh Congresses). He was not a candidate for renomination.

Later, he became president of the Arlington National Bank of Lawrence.

He died in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1914 and was interred in Bellevue Cemetery.

Biography

The following is a biography written about WSK by an unknown person, but kept by the family for nearly 100 years.

BIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM SHADRACH KNOX

It is not easy to rate the real human forces contributing to the development of a nation, for often the most efficient are obscure, the most inefficient the most blatant. The title “great man” is not infrequently a misnomer, for the conspicuous are not always great, and the great are not always conspicuous. The study of our National House of Representatives will occasion pause in our judgment, for to the superficial view, it will seem that the few are carrying upon their shoulders the whole burden of the Government, whereas the vast work of our Congress is performed by the quiet and often obscure members, who do not rush into print, and who keep out of the public eye, but with rare ability and conscientious purpose carry forward the vast interests of this greatest business corporation in the world, the United States of America.

A study of the types of citizenship which form the composite American, must be incomplete without including the ripened fruit of generations, as well as the brilliant bloom which exhausts itself in the blooming.

It is a good to fix in history so fine a type of American citizen as the Hon. William Shadrach Knox, for there are few of greater value as an example to the youth of our country, or of greater satisfaction to those who knew his worth through personal relation.

Mr. Knox represents the strong undercurrent of sterling character which unchecked and undiverted by the glistening waves and iridescent bubbles on the surface, is sweeping this country forward to a future of magnificent achievement. And therefore we come to this brief study of the man with a sympathetic pen.

To be well born is to be reckoned among the chief factors of a successful life, and it was the good fortune of Mr. Knox to have the backing of a staunch and sturdy ancestry. Without the advantages or disadvantages of riches, there was the wealth of homely and wholesome principles transmitted into life.

His father, William Shadrach Knox, was of Scotch blood, and very naturally took pride in the name so distinguished in Scotch annals, and to which honors were added by General Henry Knox who made a name for himself, in the history of our own country.

William Shadrach Knox, Senior, married Rebecca Walker, likewise of a strong New England strain, and together they farmed in the hard soil of New England, which has produced the finest harvest of men and women the world has ever known. They were true New Englanders of the keen and open mind, quick to absorb the truth and firm in their maintenance of those humble and elemental virtues which gave stability to our citizenship. They were in sympathy with the progressive interests of our country, and their membership in the Universalist Church indicated their freedom of thought joined with reverence of spirit. To these people came the son who was to take his place as one of the vital forces of our community and the faithful servant of his country.