Zebulon Knight was born on October 16, 1830, in Otisfield, Maine, to Samuel and Jerusha Knight. His father was a mason who owned $1,000 of real estate by 1850. He grew up and attended school in Otisfield, and by 1860, he was working as a farmer.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on October 19, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company F of the 1^st Maine Cavalry. The regiment took part in the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Overland Campaign. He was promoted to corporal in 1862, but he was reduced to the ranks a year later. He mustered out on June 15, 1864.

 

Knight returned to Otisfield after leaving the army. He married Jane Bell. He worked as a farmer, and by 1870, he owned $2,000 of real estate and $926 of personal property. His wife died on February 26, 1888. He married a woman named Hannah around 1889. Knight remained in Otisfield for the rest of his life, and he died there of “paralysis” on October 11, 1905.

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