“About 1827, Levi J. Knight and his new bride Ann Clements Herrin homesteaded on land on Beaverdam Creek, near the present day site of Ray City, Georgia. … The Knight homestead was situated in Lowndes County (present day Berrien County).” [2]
Look in the middle of the map [1], just below the city of Nashville, Berrien County, Georgia. Apparently the renown of Levi J. Knight as first settler of the area and as Major General of the 6th Division of the Georgia Militia earned his community a place on the map in 1862 as Knight, Georgia.
The small community is later known as Knight’s Mill (1867), Ray’s Mill (1879), and Ray City (1909).
Our Knight family plays a prominent role in the history of Ray City. Learn more at the excellent Ray City History Blog.
Levi J. Knight (1803-1870) and Ann Donald Clements (1802-1857) are 5th great-grandparents of MKS in the Knight branch.
References:
[1] Johnson’s Georgia and Alabama, by Alvin Jewett Johnson and Benjamin P. Ward, 1862.
[2] Levi J. Knight ~ Settling Lowndes County 1827-1836, Ray City History Blog, 6 Jun 2013.