David Crawford Knox was
born August 18, 1842 in Co. Antrim, northern Ireland. He came to Abbeville,
South Carolina as a young boy. He was a blacksmith as his father before him. David served in the Confederate troops
in Company A, 2nd South Carolina Rifles, enlisting at age 18 on October 22, 1861. He was
injured August 1863, and spent time in Jackson Hospital in Richmond,
Virginia. He was
paroled at Appomattox April 9, 1865. After he returned home, he married Sally Eliza Walker
January 2, 1866. Their first child, David James Knox, died young. Sally and David removed
to Carroll Co. Georgia with sons, Joseph and Samuel, and finally settled in Atlanta. However,
their marriage was not a happy one. David took advantage of his
Georgia residence where his South Carolina
marriage may have been invalid and married December 21, 1891, in Atlanta, to Lillie [nee
Thomas] Busbee. Lillie gave him a daughter, Willie, and sons John W. and Roy C.
Knox. David was tragically killed on October 12, 1906
while crossing the Atlanta and West Point passenger train tracks. A nearby man stated that
he had yelled to warn him of the approaching train, but David apparently did not hear him. He was instantly crushed. David is buried in an unmarked double grave with a Glen Knox in
Hollywood Cemetery in Atlanta. His relationship between Glen Knox and his family remains a
mystery. Neither of his wives is buried with him. A marker for Sallie was placed in
Abbeville's Sharon United Methodist Cemetery by her sister, Martha Jane Walker who married
David's younger brother, James William Knox. Lillie Thomas Busbee Knox is buried with her
children in Atlanta's Westview Cemetery.
By Nancy Knox Schaffer, 1998
