| Barney's death left his mother with no income. Mary McKnight, at the age of 59, applied and received her son's military pension of $8.00 a month .She was eligible for his pension because there was no other dependent in the United States. Barney's wife Annie and his son John remained somewhere in England. The income provided by the pension allowed Mary to move from the crowded center of Taunton to a better location, Main Street in East Taunton.
With the death of Barney, Annie McKnight had not only lost a husband, but also the chance of life in America. Though there is no existing documentation, family stories claim that she remarried and remained in England. Unlike his mother, John decided to leave England and join his grandmother in the United States. By 1870 John McKnight had immigrated to America and was residing with grandmother in a house in East Taunton, MA. He worked as a laborer in the Old Colony Iron Works, the same mill that his father worker in 1860. The city directory of Taunton in 1872 lists John (laborer) and Mary (widow) McKnight living on Main Street in East Taunton. By 1874 Owen McKnight had joined his mother and nephew residing at the same residence on Main Street in East Taunton. Owen is listed as a "puddler" and like John worked in the Old Colony Iron Works. |
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| Owen and John stayed in East Taunton with their mother/grandmother until her death on April 28, 1875. Mary McKnight is buried in East Taunton, possible St James Cemetery. Her death certificate lists Mary's age as seventy-five, but evidence from all earlier records suggests she was actually sixty-five when she died. Both Owen and John left Taunton by 1880. There is no evidence of Owen after this point. The McKnight family tradition claims that John left Taunton in search of his father's grave. He was hired as a cook's mate aboard some type of sailing vessel working his way down the east coast to Georgia. There he traveled to Andersonville and found his father's grave, and now was ready to begin a new life. The emerging iron and steel industry of western Pennsylvania was creating the type of work that John knew well. It was the logical place to find work. By 1880 John reached Pittsburgh and took a job with Jones and Laughlin Steel Works as a "puddler."
John McKnight met and courted Annie Quinn(Same name as his mother.) during 1880 and 1881. The couple settled in the Irish ghetto of Greenfield overlooking the Jones and Laughlin Steel Mill. They had thirteen children, whose descendants still populate the area. John died in 1915. |
 Ann Quinn and John McKnight Circ 1915 |
 Captain Henry Wirz |
Captain Henry Wirz, the commanding officer of Fort Sumter (Andersonville) was the only Confederate military officer tried, convicted and hanged after the war. His execution was carried out on November 10, 1865. Ironically, General John Winder, who had more responsibility for conditions within the prison than Wirz, died before the war ended. Many believe Wirz was simply the target of Union hatred looking for a scapegoat.
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