THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

July 2, 1992

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            William J. Knights was one of eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Knights, in the little village of Shawangunk, near Grant, N.Y., on March 26, 1853

            In his early years he worked on farms, and at the age of 19, he came to Wisconsin, where he became associated with one of his old schoolmates, C. A. Smart, who was operating a general store in Wild Rose.

            A few years later he moved to Evansville, in southern Wisconsin, where he became connected with the Evansville Mercantile Company.  Due to failing health he turned to being a salesman for the John S. Gould and Company of Chicago, and he moved to Janesville in 1895.

            It was a chance on a cold winter night that John Nicholson and Samuel Hill met with William J. Knights in a small hotel room in Boscobel in 1899.  In this hotel room in Boscobel the three salesmen discussed the idea of placing Bibles in hotel rooms for the Christian commercial traveling salesmen.

            The three men met again in Janesville, and the Gideon Society was organized on July 1, 1899, to help travelers in keeping their Christian faith.

            Lacking for a name, Mr. Knights called for prayer.  The three men knelt in silent prayer, and as they rose Mr. Knights said “the name of their organization would be Gideons” because Gideon was always ready to d what God commanded, without regard to his own judgment.

            Their first work was placing Bibles in hotel rooms in the United States, and soon extended into Canada and many foreign countries.  They also placed Bibles in hospitals, sanitariums, schools and penal institutions.  Mr. Knights returned to Wild Rose in the early years of the 1900s to make the Waushara County community his home.

            William J. Knights was married to Ella A. Smart of Wild Rose on February 25, 1882; she died January 16, 1919.  On November 14, 1992, he was married to Lelah May Larsen of Wild Rose, and she lived until 1964.

            William J. Knights died at his home in Wild Rose, August 22, 1940.  He is buried beside both of his wives in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Wild Rose.  His marker has the following inscription:  “William J. Knights, March 26, 1853-August 22, 1940.  Co-Founder, the Gideons International, organized July 1, 1899.”

            In 1940, before the death of William J. Knights, he attended the State Gideon convention in Janesville, and by that time they had placed over 1,400,000 Bibles in hotel rooms, penal institutions, schools and hospitals throughout the world.

            On the other side of the coin, there are others who wish to take the chance of making a fast buck by breaking the law.

            This was the case of a man known only as Patsy, one of the four men that robbed the Wild Rose Post Office on October 6, 1905.

            A posse of 30 men were quickly formed under marshal Prothroe, and the next day the four robbers were apprehended in a shootout, which resulted in the death of Patsy.  He was buried in an unmarked grave in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Wild Rose.

            The full account of this daring robbery can be found in the Wild Rose, Wisconsin, Centennial book, 1873-1973.