Hon. William F. McKnight Hon. William F. McKnight, one of the ablest, most energetic and most indefatigable, as well as successful, members of the bar of Grand Rapids, and still in the vigor of his early manhood, was born in Cascade, Kent county, Mich., July 23, 1863, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Fitzpatrick) McKnight. Thomas McKnight is a native of Dublin, Ireland, came to America while still a single man, and was first married in Kalamazoo, Mich. After his marriage he settled on a farm on which his wife passed away, in 1875, but on which he still resides and is remarried. There have been born to him ten children--but of these the sons alone survive and are named as follows: John, who is farming on the old homestead; Joseph, also a farmer; William F., the subject of this biography; L. Frank, who is associated with his brother, William F., and is also superintendent of the money-order department of the post-office; Edward E., M.D., of Alpena, Mich., and Charles A., an attorney in Chicago, Ill. The McKnight family are all devoted Catholics in their religious faith, and all are possessed of that indomitable spirit which characterizes the Irish-American race, and which chiefly manifests itself in a determination not to be conquered by adverse circumstances, and by a steady adherence to honest toil as the means of material progress. Thomas McKnight, inheriting these sterling qualities, made them manifest on his arrival in America. He had received a good education, his wife had been a physician in Dublin and later in this country, and he himself was a pioneer, but had made three trips to Michigan before settling in the vicinity of Grand Rapids about fifty-five years ago. Hon. William F. McKnight attended the common schools of Cascade until sixteen years of age and then taught district school, a vocation he followed, in conjunction with further study, for two years. By this time (1881, having saved his money, he was prepared to enter the Normal college at Valparaiso, Ind., from which he graduated, with the degree of A.B., in 1884. He then became superintendent of a school at Kankakee, Ill., a position he held two years, when he entered the law department of the Michigan university at Ann Arbor; this institution he graduated from with the class of 1887, and was admitted to the bar in 1888, at Grand Rapids, by Judge R. M. Montgomery, now chief justice of the supreme court. For one year immediately following his admission to the bar, Mr. McKnight practiced alone, more or less, and then formed a partnership with G. Charles Godwin and Allen C. Adsit, under the firm style of Godwin, Adsit & McKnight, which firm maintained a foremost rank among the legal fraternity of Grand Rapids until Mr. McKnight was elected prosecuting attorney in 1890, and Mr. Adsit elected to the bench. The same year, Mr. Godwin died, and thus the firm passed into dissolution. Mr. McKnight served one term as prosecuting attorney after the dissolution of the firm, but in the meantime formed a partnership with T.H. McGarry and Melburn H. Ford, and the firm, under the style of McGarry, Ford & McKnight, existed until 1895, although during the interval Mr. Food was called away by death. Since 1898, Mr. McKnight has been associated in practice with his two brothers. A solid democrat in politics, Mr. McKnight has acted as chairman of the democratic county committee and as a member of the democratic state central committee four years, and was a member of the democratic conference committee preceeding the national convention held at Chicago in 1896, to which he was also elected a delegate and in which he made a fight against Don Dickinson as a contestant for his seat. He was appointed, at this convention, with Senator White, of California, and Senator Blackburn, of Kentucky, to wait on William J. Bryan and arrange for a time and place to announce officially to him his nomination as a candidate for the presidency, and was also a member of the ratification committee which met at Madison square, New York city. Mr. McKnight is a close personal friend of Mr. Bryan, and ably assisted him in his campaign through Michigan, Indiana and other states. Fraternally, Mr. McKnight is a member of the Knights of Columbia, is a Knight of Pythias, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Modern Woodmen of America, lodge No. 48, B.P.O.E., the Peninsula, County, Lakeside and Hesperus clubs, and the Grand Rapids battery. He is deeply interested in the financial affairs and manufacturing industries of Grand Rapids, and is owner of considerable real estate in the city and in the county, and his professional practice extends through all parts of the state. Personally he is of fine appearance, and is always gentlemanly in deportment, and his eloquence is irresistible. Still a bachelor, he is a prime favorite in social circles, and his standing before the public indicates that position of permanent importance are yet to be his.