Edward Boardman Knight
By: Emmanuel Backus
Born in Hancock, New Hampshire in 1834 to an affluent New England family, Edward Knight attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1861. Two years later, Knight was admitted into the bar in New Hampshire. That same year, Knight packed up and headed south to the newly formed state of West Virginia to open a legal practice with founding member Benjamin H. Smith. This practice became known as Smith and Knight and remained under that name until 1883. While Smith retired shortly after the formation of Smith and Knight, the firm retained its name as Benjamin Smith’s son, Major Isaac N. Smith continued his family’s partnership with Knight. Known for his candor, extensive knowledge of the law, and presence in the courtroom, Edward Knight gained the respect of his West Virginia colleagues quickly upon arrival in the Mountain State.
In public life, Edward Knight served in a plethora of positions during the early years of West Virginia statehood, including as director of the Statehouse Company, as a delegate for Kanawha County at the Second Constitutional Convention in 1872, and as a solicitor for the City of Charleston. While Knight was historically known as an apolitical person, he appreciated the duties of the various offices he held and ensured that his responsibilities in those seats were fulfilled and handled with the utmost decorum. In his duties as the director of the Statehouse Company, Knight fought to ensure that the state’s capitol was moved from Wheeling to Charleston. Under his leadership, Knight oversaw the funding, establishment, and construction of the Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia. While director, Knight also ensured that the city of Charleston itself was transformed into a city that could house a state’s governmental heart.
As a delegate to the Second Constitutional Convention in 1872, Knight helped ensure that all veterans, Union or Confederacy, were repatriated into society by ensuring their right to vote as well as protecting veterans from any civil or criminal liability for their actions during the Civil War. During his time as a solicitor for the City of Charleston, Knight was responsible for prosecuting “all suits on behalf of the city and defend[ing] all suits against the city… and in general look[ing] after the interests of the city when it shall need legal services.”
Following the death of Knight’s son in 1883, Knight decided to partner with another prominent Charleston attorney by the name of George S., Couch to create the firm Knight and Couch, another predecessor to Jackson Kelly. While Knight retired in 1892, his effect on the firm did not fade. One of Knight’s three children, Edward W. Knight, continued his father’s work to build and grow the firm. During his son’s time the firm once more evolved, becoming Brown, Jackson, and Knight, bringing it one step closer to modernity. Edward B. Knight passed away in 1897 at the age of 63.
Sources:
Atkinson, Bench and Bar of West Virginia, pgs. 47-49.
Byrne, Jonathan D. “A Brief Biographical History of Jackson & Kelly and its Predecessors.” August 14, 1995.