By Clif Knight

 Spending time together has become more difficult for my siblings and me since we all parted ways with the farm, married, moved away, raised our own families and have seen them pursue lives of their own. 

Annelle came first. She left home and married at age 17, becoming the wife of a widowed Air Force sergeant and mother of five children.  

I was second. I left home at age 18, joined the Air Force, earned my degree in journalism from UA and retired from a newspaper career after 50 years.  

Billy was third. He remained on the farm and was a lifelong carpenter and homebuilder. He died 16 years ago.   

George was fourth. He left home at age 18, and he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from UA and a master’s degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He retired as editor from Southern Baptist publications and is a self-employed religious writer. 

David was fifth. He left home at age 18 and pursued a career as an editor and publisher of a lumberman’s magazine prior to his recent retirement.  

Sherry is sixth. She left home at age 18 to marry, raise two sons and pursue a career as a registered nurse.   

Barry is seventh. He left home at age 21 after graduating from JSU with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and is a business accountant in Birmingham. 

We all, spouses included, met at the home of Tommy and Linda McElroy in Dearmanville Sept. 7. The reunion was made possible when, this past year, Annelle decided to accept an offer from Tommy and Linda to move in with them in their recently-built home.  

She was pleased when her house sold on the first day it was listed by a Realtor, and she was especially excited when she saw the addition to the McElroy house that was designed for her. It is complete with her own bathroom, walk-in closet and outside deck. 

The day was filled with excitement as stories were shared of days gone by and how family members were involved.  

A popular conversation piece was a large Knight scrapbook shared by Jimmy Knight, a first cousin. It contained pages of old pictures and captions, highlighting almost every member of the Knight family for three or four generations.  

A magazine article published in a Clay County magazine was particularly interesting. It had the 1881 story of the murder of Lobina Knight Mitchell, a niece of our grandfather, George Knight. The story covered the murder suspect Charles J. Waldrop’s flight, capture and hanging – the only hanging recorded in Clay County’s history.