Jonathan Knight (November 22, 1787 – November 22, 1858) was an Opposition Party member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. He was also a civil engineer, active in designing railroads.
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Jonathan Knight was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He moved with his parents to East Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania, in 1801. He attended the common schools and became a civil engineer. He was appointed by the state in 1816 to make and report on a map of Washington County, Pennsylvania. He was elected county commissioner and served three years.
Knight assisted in the preliminary surveys of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the National Road between Cumberland, Maryland, and Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia). He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1822 to 1828. He entered the service of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company and visited England to pursue further studies in engineering. Upon his return in 1830, he was appointed chief engineer of the B&O and served until 1842. He also engaged in agricultural pursuits and was secretary of the first agricultural society organized in Washington County.
Knight was elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1856, and for election in 1858. He resumed agricultural pursuits near East Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and died there in 1858. Interment was in West Land Cemetery, near West Brownsville, Pennsylvania.
| United States House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by John L. Dawson |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 20th congressional district 1855-1857 |
Succeeded by William Montgomery |