James Stuart McKnight
Encyclopedia
James Stuart McKnight was a National Guard officer who served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, an attorney and a member of the City Council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, in 1931 and 1932.
Military
After earning his law degreeLaw degree
A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...
from the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in 1908, McKnight was associated with Ralph A. Chase in a law practice for ten years. "In 1916 he enlisted in the National Guard and went to Nogales, Arizona
Nogales, Arizona
Nogales is a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 21,017 at the 2010 census. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,833. The city is the county seat of Santa Cruz County....
, for border duty with the old Seventh Regiment
7th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The United States Army's 7th Infantry Regiment, known as "The Cottenbalers" from an incident that occurred during the Battle of New Orleans, while under the command of Andrew Jackson, when soldiers of the 7th Infantry Regiment held positions behind a breastwork of bales of cotton during the...
as a lieutenant."
"In March, 1917, he was made a major, and in August he was sent to Camp Kearny
Camp Kearny
Camp Kearny was a U.S. military base in San Diego, California, on the site of the current Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. It operated from 1917 to 1946.-Establishment and early years:...
with the Third Battalion, becoming first commander of the camp and being in charge until Frederick Smith Strong took command of the division. . . . in July, 1918, Col. McKnight went overseas and attended the School of the Line at Langres, France
Arrondissement of Langres
The arrondissement of Langres is an arrondissement of France, located in the Haute-Marne département, in the Champagne-Ardenne région. It has 10 cantons and 158 communes.-Cantons:The cantons of the arrondissement of Langres are:# Auberive...
. Returning to the One Hundred and Sixtieth Infantry
160th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 160th Infantry Regiment is a light infantry regiment of the United States Army. The first Battalion, 160th Infantry, is a component of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team .-History:...
he trained officers for a time and was then sent to the front with reserves for the First Army. When the Armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
was signed he was assigned to duty with Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
in Paris for service in the American food relief work."
According to his wife, Anita, McKnight was promoted to lieutenant colonel in May 1919 and was retained in an executive capacity in Paris when "the American Relief Administration
American Relief Administration
American Relief Administration was an American relief mission to Europe and later Soviet Russia after World War I. Herbert Hoover, future president of the United States, was the program director....
began to close all its missions and all financial matters were taken over by the United States Grain Corporation."
He was appointed assistant adjutant-general of the California National Guard by Governor William Stephens
William Stephens
William Dennison Stephens was an American federal and state politician. A three-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1911 to 1916, Stephens was also the 24th Governor of California from 1917 to 1923....
on November 17, 1919. He later became president of the Los Angeles Infantry Regiment Association but resigned that position under duress when it was charged he had demanded a ten percent cut from a fund-raiser hired by the association. An investigation was undertaken by a board of inquiry and, after fifteen witnesses were heard, at the end McKnight was ordered by his superior, Adjutant-General Boree, to resign. His resignation in 1921 caused him to lose his National Guard rank of colonel; he "was a major in the Federal service before being appointed by the governor." He did, however, use the title of colonel when a member of the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, and at other times.
Civilian
McKnight returned to his law practice in Los Angeles. In June 1930, McKnight represented Mrs. Anna Butcher, a sister of pioneer temperance advocate Carrie NationCarrie Nation
Carrie Amelia Moore Nation was a member of the temperance movement, which opposed alcohol in pre-Prohibition America. She is particularly noteworthy for promoting her viewpoint through vandalism. On many occasions Nation would enter an alcohol-serving establishment and attack the bar with a hatchet...
in a competence hearing
Competency evaluation (law)
In the United States criminal justice system, a competency evaluation is an assessment of the ability of a defendant to understand and rationally participate in a court process....
.
In June 1931 McKnight unseated incumbent councilman Ernest L. Webster
Ernest L. Webster
Ernest L. Webster was a pioneer automobile dealer in Los Angeles, California, and representative of the 3rd District on the Los Angeles City Council between 1927 and 1931.-Biography:...
in a victory in the Third District, which represented "much of Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...
," West Hollywood, Westwood and Sawtelle.
In April 1933, a jury in Judge Fletcher Bowron
Fletcher Bowron
Fletcher Bowron was the 35th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from September 26, 1938 until June 30, 1953. Until Thomas Bradley passed his length of service during the 1980s, Bowron held the distinction of having the longest tenure in that position in city history.Bowron was born in Poway,...
's court found him innocent of a criminal charge that he had lied to a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
about the renewal of a city contract with a Fontana, California
Fontana, California
Fontana is a city of 196,069 residents in San Bernardino County, California. Founded in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area...
, company for garbage disposal, but in 1934 he and former Councilman Roy Donley
Roy Donley
Roy L. Donley was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from the Fifth District in 1931 and 1932. He was also deputy United States Internal Revenue collector....
were tried on a charge of agreeing to accept a $10,000 bribe to influence their votes on the garbage contract. Both were acquitted.
McKnight lost his seat in the 1933 election to Stephen W. Cunningham
Stephen W. Cunningham
Stephen W. Cunningham was the first graduate manager at the Southern Branch of the University of California, later UCLA, and a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1933 to 1941.-Biography:Stephen W...
, graduate manager of the Associated Students at UCLA. In December 1934, McKnight was found guilty of four counts of mailing "defamatory and libelous matter" about Cunningham through the mail and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge [Paul John] McCormick
Paul John McCormick
Paul John McCormick was a United States federal judge.Born in New York, New York, McCormick attended St. Ignatius College, and read law to enter the bar in 1900. He was in private practice in Los Angeles, California from 1900 to 1905. He was an Assistant district attorney of Los Angeles County,...
to six months in jail, suspended for two years.
Personal life
A native of Green Bay, WisconsinGreen Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, McKnight was graduated from Los Angeles High School
Los Angeles High School
Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are blue and white and the teams are called the Romans....
and from the University of Southern California Law School
University of Southern California Law School
The University of Southern California Law School , located in Los Angeles, California, is a law school within the University of Southern California...
. In March 1919, McKnight was married in Paris, France, to motion picture actress Anita King
Anita King
Anita King was an American stunt driver, actress, and thoroughbred racehorse owner.-Early life:Born Anna Keppen to German immigrants in Michigan City, Indiana, her father committed suicide in 1896 when she was twelve years old and two years later her mother died of pulmonary tuberculosis...
.
McKnight was known as a sharp dresser. "His clothes are always well pressed, his hanky
Handkerchief
A handkerchief , also called a handkercher or hanky, is a form of a kerchief, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric that can be carried in the pocket or purse, and which is intended for personal hygiene purposes such as wiping one's hands or face, or blowing one's nose...
peeks from the top coat pocket, his glasses are always polished, and his fair hair is always neatly brushed back from his high forehead." McKnight was a Mason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
.
McKnight died on December 25, 1950, and was buried with military services at Sawtelle Cemetery in West Los Angeles. He was survived by his widow, Velma, and a daughter, also named Velma, and a brother, Robert B. McKnight.
See also
- List of California public officials charged with crimes, Los Angeles