Local legends state that Knight and his men attempted to form the "Free State of Jones" in the area around Jones … Nonetheless, their rebellion had come to the attention of Confederate leaders who sent troops to stop it. Upon returning home, he realized that his farming had suffered quite a lot.

In November 1863, Major Amos McLemore, sent by the Confederacy to capture deserters, was shot and killed in Ellisville, the county seat of Jones County. Newton Knight, a white Mississippi farmer, led armed opposition to the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War, creating “The Free State of Jones,” a county that supported the Union in the war. Their insurgent actions included impeding tax collectors, taking Confederate army supplies to redistribute to Jones County’s residents and even killing supporters of the Confederacy. The couple had five children. The secrets, legends and memories it holds have long been a mystery to most who call Jones County home. Knight's wife Serena and their children lived nearby.

Shortly after the Civil War began, Knight enlisted in the Confederate Army.
The war became inevitable and finally broke out in 1861. Knight's descendants formed a biracial community in the segregated South. Newton Knight was an American farmer, a southern Unionist, and a soldier in Mississippi, who was also the leader of the ‘Knight Company,’ a group of soldiers who fought in the Civil War and opposed the ‘Confederate’ government. He did not have any slaves either. Some accounts say that he was coerced by the pro-war passions of the times, others say that he wanted to avoid conscription and some say that he simply liked being a soldier. It is generally believed that Knight killed him.Knight rallied about 125 others—some deserters, some enslaved people—and formed the Knight Company. Knight and his team fought them bravely whenever they could and hid in the swamps at other times. If you see something that doesn't look right, Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.Suge Knight is a rap industry businessman who is the co-founder of Death Row Records, having worked with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur.Singer Gladys Knight has given voice to multiple R&B hits (with and without her Pips), including "Midnight Train to Georgia. History is unclear about his wife's attitude about their marriage but during Knight's relationship with Rachel, Serena also bore children by Knight and remained a strong presence in their community and family until her death in 1923. But the attempt was unsuccessful, with decades of black disenfranchisement to follow. Fotografía de Newton Knight (1837-1922) Según los cronistas locales cuentan que Knight … Apr 23, 2017 - Explore singer77's board "Newton Knight", followed by 155 people on Pinterest. When Rachel Knight was born on March 14, 1840, in Macon, Georgia, her mother, Viney, was 15. However, this was not enough to stop Knight, as he continued fighting the ‘Confederates’ until the end of the war in 1865.By the spring of 1864, the ‘Confederate Army’ had been overthrown by Knight’s forces, and once the war ended, the ‘Union Army’ took over Jones County. After deserting from the Confederate army, he led a rebellion against the Confederacy in Jones County, according to lore and declaring it “The Free State of Jones.” After the war, he lived with a woman who had been enslaved. Several films and novels have been based on his life. Knight was then tasked with providing food to the poor, which was earlier taken away by the ‘Confederate Army.’ He also embarked on several missions to free the slave children in the nearby counties. His first wife, Serena, and her children lived nearby.

Theirs was a relatively poor family of farmers. Newton Knight (November 1837 – February 16, 1922) was an American farmer, soldier and southern Unionist, best known as the leader of the Knight Company, a band of Confederate army deserters that turned against the Confederacy during the Civil War. Many men were enlisted in the army, and there were not enough workers to work on the farms. They eluded the tax collectors, killed the supporters of the ‘Confederate Army,’ and indulged in distributing army supplies to the locals. The film was a major critical and commercial debacle. He relied on farming to make ends meet.Newton followed in his father’s footsteps and never owned a slave.

He was born into a poor farming family.
In early 1864, an American flag was raised in Ellisville, but whether the ‘Free State of Jones’ was an official name is not certain.The ‘Confederate Army’ soon came to know about the ‘Knight Company’ and sent troops to bring them down.