George L. Knox

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George L. Knox Sr.
BornGeorge Levi Knox
(1841-09-16)September 16, 1841
Statesville, Tennessee, US
DiedAugust 24, 1927(1927-08-24) (aged 85)
Richmond, Virginia, US
OccupationBarber shop owner
Notable worksSlave and Freeman, the Autobiography of George L. Knox
Spouse
Auralia S. Harvey
​
​
(m. 1865⁠–⁠1910)​
Margaret Nickens
​
(m. 1914)​
Children
  • William
  • Nellie
  • Edward
  • Elwood
Relatives
  • Nancy Fisher (mother)
  • Hulda (sister)
  • Charles (brother)

George Levi Knox (September 16, 1841 – August 24, 1927)[1] was an American escaped slave, soldier, activist, publisher, and author in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Knox was born in Statesville, Tennessee, to enslaved parents. He was a runaway slave who served both the South and the North in the American Civil War. Later in life he published The Indianapolis Freeman from 1893 to 1926.[2] Knox also owned a Negro league baseball team, Indianapolis's Barber B.B.C.[3]

His grandson George L. Knox II was a pilot with the Tuskegee Airman during World War II.[4]

Early life

Knox was born in Statesville, Tennessee, in 1841 and was sold into slavery in 1844, at three years of age.[5] He married Auralia Susie Harvey in 1865[6] and together they had four children.[5]

During the Civil War his master took him to the front lines. Knox escaped and joined the Union where he accompanied the 55th Indiana Infantry Regiment. As a slave, Knox was taken by his master to the front lines to serve the Confederate States of America. He was able to escape and was welcomed by the Northern Union troops. He served with 55th Indiana Infantry Regiment as a teamster. Eventually he made his way to Indianapolis with the 55th and left the military service.[5][7]

After the war, Knox learned the barber business. He was successful and in 1884 he opened his own barber and shaving parlor business at a cost of $10,000 (~$349,963 in 2024).[7]

Career

In 1884, Knox moved to Indianapolis and opened several barbershops and shaving parlors. The barbershops employed black barbers but only served white people.[8] He met many influential white people through his whites only barber shops, and he had an unsuccessful run for US Congress.[7]

In the early 1900s, Knox ran shaving parlors in Indianapolis.[9] He owned an amateur Negro baseball team which was called Indianapolis's Barber Base Ball Club (B.B.C.). His son Elwood pitched for the team.[3]

Knox purchased The Indianapolis Freeman, an African-American newspaper (or race paper), and was the publisher from 1893 to 1926. The weekly paper was called "A National Illustrated Colored Newspaper". Booker T. Washington was a contributor. The paper had a circulation of 25,000.[10] It was also sold internationally and covered everything from small black communities to sports and entertainment. The paper came out on Sundays and it was said their negative review of could ruin a career.[11]

In December 1894, when Knox was 44, he began publishing his memoirs in The Indianapolis Freeman, with each weekly edition carrying a chapter under the title Life as I Remember It – As a Slave and Freeman. It was first published in book form in 1979 by University Press of Kentucky under the title Slave and Freeman, the Autobiography of George L. Knox, with an introduction by Willard B. Gatewood.[12][1]

Knox's first wife, Auralia, died in 1910.[13] In 1914, he married a woman named Mrs. Margaret Nickens.[1]

Death

Knox died on August 24, 1927, in Richmond, Virginia, from a paralytic stroke.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Knox, George (1979). Slave and Freeman, the Autobiography of George L. Knox. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 43–44. ISBN 0-8131-1384-9. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  2. ^ "George Knox, Indianapolis Publisher Dies In Virginia". The Indianapolis Star. 26 August 1927. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b Brunson III, James E. (2019). Black Baseball 1858-1900. Jefferson, North Carolina: James E. Brunson III. p. 897. ISBN 978-0-7864-9417-0. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  4. ^ Hunter, Al. "The Ghost of Old George Knox". The Weekly View. Weekly View. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Colored Man, Old Friend of Riley, Dies in South". The Indianapolis News. 25 August 1927. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  6. ^ Indiana, U.S., Marriage Index, 1800–1941
  7. ^ a b c Hartshorn, William Newton; Penniman, George W. (eds.). "Era of progress and promise, 1863-1910: the religious, moral, and educational development of the American Negro since his emancipation". North Carolina Digital Collections. Boston: Priscilla. p. 430. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  8. ^ Thornbrough, Emma Lou (2 June 1980). Civil War History. Vol. 26. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: The Kent State University Press. pp. 185–186. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  9. ^ "The finest in the State - The New Shaving Parlors". The Hancock Democrat. No. Advertisement. 3 September 1903. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Ad Sense. New York: The New York Magazine. 1905. p. 96. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  11. ^ Watkins, Clifford (2003). Showman. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 17–18. ISBN 1-57806-555-0. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  12. ^ Lee, David D. (November 11, 1979). "Slave and freeman: The life of George L. Knox makes interesting reading". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. p. 32. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  13. ^ "Hamptons attend Mrs. George Knox funeral". The Daily Reporter. No. P1. 15 September 1910. Retrieved 26 September 2021.