Lucian Lamar Knight's love of his native Georgia was a constant in his seemingly itinerant
professional life. His roots were there, having been born in Atlanta in 1868,
and he was graduated from the University of Georgia in 1888. Perhaps his father,
George Walton Knight, who was a Confederate general, lawyer, and cotton
merchant, nursed his love for the South. Whatever the reason, Knight's affection
for the history and people of his native state was never far from his heart.
An accomplished attorney, newspaperman, and minister, Knight hopscotched professionally from one
vocation to another. He left the legal profession to join the Atlanta
Constitution. That began a series of moves landing him in Washington, D.C.,
Europe, Los Angeles, and finally back to Georgia. In a seemingly perfect fit of
interest and skill, he became archivist of Georgia state records in 1913.
In the preface of Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials, and Legends, Knight recounts his
research adventures in uncovering the wealth of information contained in the
compilation. Four years of his leisure time were spent poring over court
documents, old newspaper articles, and burial ground tombstones, all to
accurately recount the history of his beloved home state. Originally published
in 1913 and 1914, this work stands as an accurate historical reference of
Georgia at that time.
He died in 1933 at the age of sixty-five and is remembered in the American National Biography
as a writer, poet, historian, speaker, and master of ceremonies.
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