T. Michael Knox This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Mike Knox knows his history

   www.forestlaketimes.com/2005/j - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/19/2005   Last Visited: 2/7/2005

   Mike Knox knows his history
   ...
   When Mike Knox talks history to his fifth-grade students at Linwood Elementary, they listen with interest. Here is a teacher who knows his history. And that's not just a play on words.
   
   For the past 35 years, Knox, 57, has poured his free time into a genealogy project that has achieved amazing results. And Knox is far from done with this labor of love to document his ancestors.
   
   Since first starting on this personal pursuit of ancestors in 1970, Knox has documented some 50 generations of family that date to 6 a.d.
   ...
   Born in Tennessee in 1947 the son of a World War II Naval veteran, T. Michael Knox arrived in Minnesota in June of 1969 after serving four years in the Air Force. While stationed in Germany, he met his wife-to-be, Rebecca, who was from Minneapolis.
   
   They married in November of 1969 and Knox enrolled at North Hennepin Community College. It was here in early 1970 when he was first introduced to a genealogy class as he started pursuit of his teaching degree.
   
   The class triggered a personal learning desire that is yet to dim, even after 34 years. "Once I'm hooked, I'm hooked," Knox said.
   
   Knox has accomplished his amazing documentation as time has allowed. He intertwines his genealogical study around family and work.
   
   He has taught at Linwood Elementary since 1974, minus a stint in 1978-79 to attend school for air traffic control certification and a second stint in the military, this time from 1982-1984 with the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant junior grade after graduating from Officer Candidate School.
   
   He returned to teaching in 1984 when his Naval commitment came to a close.
   
   "At that point I decided teaching was what the Lord wanted me to do," he says. "You've got to love what you do."
   
   Through his many career steps, Knox says he always found some time to work on the family history. He has done so with his own research and the efforts of other family members who have the same interest
   
   History is personal
   
   Students with any interest in history will find Knox's lectures sprinkled with personal facts and dates that bring the textbook lessons to life. As a teacher, he says one of his goals is to instill a love of history in his students.
   
   Based on his research, Knox has traced his ancestry to Europe and shortly after the birth of Christ.
   
   And there are brushes with fame in the family background of this Linwood Township man.
   
   "I've got them back to William the Conqueror," Knox said of his lineage.
   ...
   Knox says he has traced his ancestry directly to King Edward I of England.
   ...
   Today, Mike and Rebecca's kids, Colleen and Stephen Michael, represent the 12th generation on American soil.
   ...
   Knox comes from the Gaelic word "Lennokk," meaning hills or low mountains. His family comes from the Clan MacPharland.
   
   "We were the MacPharlands who lived up in the hills," Knox said.
   ...
   "They were all soldiers, not just patriots," Knox said.
   ...
   It was only recently that Knox, through family research, found that his ancestry included Cherokee blood. It had been a deeply hidden family secret but not for vain reasons.
   
   In the 1830s when many Eastern Indians, including Cherokees, were displaced and deported to Oklahoma, Knox's relatives were able to shield many family members from relocation.
   
   Family members told government officials the dark-skinned family members were "Black Dutch," a family blood line that dated to Europe and the family's military duty with the English sea battle in 1588 that defeated the Spanish Armada. Legend has it that defeated Spanish seamen made it to Ireland and Holland where they intermixed.
   
   "That's what they claimed to protect their families," Knox said of the Black Dutch legend.
   ...
   In the Civil War, Knox said many members of the Knox clan, some of which were slave owners, fought on the Confederate side. On his mother's side (Rogers) of the family tree, strong Methodist beliefs and politics of anti-slavery led to Union backing.
   
   Knox has yet to determine exactly how many family members fought in the Civil War for the two sides. He has documented that seven family members, including his great-great grandfather, Ike Russell, was captured by the Union at the Battle of Vicksburg. They were later released with the understanding they would return home and no longer fight.
   
   "All but two went back home (to Tennessee)," Knox said.
   ...
   Michael Knox, a fifth-grade teacher at Linwood Elementary School, has been working on his family genealogy since 1970 and he still has work to do. It's a project that anyone with a computer and Internet service can do today, Knox says, but don't rush the project. The work will take time and the ability to deal with roadblocks.
   
   Here are some tips from Knox:
   
   •Use a loose leaf notebook and bookmark one page for each family member.
   
   •Start little by documenting your immediate family.
   
   •Start your research by listing complete names and birthdays of relatives. Use old family Bibles, books, visits with family members, grave stones at cemeteries and the Internet to research your family tree, Knox says. Other good sources of information include military records, birth and death certificates on file with county officials, and pension numbers that were tied to military records in earlier periods of history.
   
   •Records may also be available from such nationally-based organizations as the Sons of the American Revolution or the Mormon Church Family Service Center of the Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City, UT.
   
   •Then it's time to "step back," Knox says. "At some point you will run out of places to go. But don't quit."
   
   The secret, he says, is remaining vigilant and willing to continue the research when time and opportunity presents. Those opportunities may happen when you least expect and sometimes after the research sits fallow for a time. "Until that lost cousin finds me," Knox said.