Family records say that among the ancesters in the McKnight family tree we find:

James McKnight:
b. unknown, near Ironton Ohio
d. before 1870, Lynch, Harlan County, Eastern Kentucky
m. date unknown, Mary Dow (see below)

Mary Dow:
b. about 1783, Ironton Ohio
d. about 1880, Benham, Harlan County, Eastern Kentucky (97 years old)
m. date unknown, James McKnight (see above)

The notes go on to say that this Mary Dow was sister to

Neal Dow:
b. March 20, 1804, Portland, Maine
d. Oct. 2, 1897, Portland, Maine

Well, it's difficult to see how Neal Dow, born in 1804 in Portland Maine could have had a sister born in 1783 in Ironton Ohio, although I suppose it's possible. Perhaps she could have been a half sister?

But what makes all this had to ignore is that there is a note in my father's handwriting giving the complete military history of Neal Dow (he was a Colonel and later a Brigadier General in the Civil War, was wounded May 26, 1863 and captured June 30, 1863, near Port Hudson, La., remained a prisoner of war for 8 months, 14 days in Libby Prison, Richmond, Virgina, and finally exchanged for Confederate General W. H. Fitzhugh, Lee who was a pretty good general so it sounds to me like the Confederates got the better of the bargain) and noting that he ran for President of the US on the Prohibition ticket in 1880. This is the kind of family legend that just doesn't sound made up.

Neal Dow was famous enough to have his own article in the encyclopedia (try a google search on the web), so there must be a lot known about his family. But I can find no mention of sisters or brothers of Neal Dow.

Does anyone have information on the family of Neal Dow that will allow me to exclude the possibility that he had a sister Mary who married a McKnight and ended up in East Kentucky?

Lee McKnight
lg.mck@verizon.net