Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Preferred Citation
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Biographical / Historical
Scope and Contents
Processing Information
General
Arrangement
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Sargeant Prentiss Knut papers
Creator:
Knut, Sargeant Prentiss, 1855-1939
Identifier/Call Number: mssKnut
Physical Description:
22.67 Linear Feet
(20 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1830-1972
Date (bulk): 1865-1938
Abstract: A collection of letters and documents related to the life and work of American lawyer Sargeant Prentiss Knut.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Sargeant Prentiss Knut papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Miss Carolyn Pollard and Ward Pollard, June 1977.
Biographical / Historical
Sargeant Prentiss Nutt (who later changed his name to the old spelling, "Knut") was a Mississippi lawyer who was involved
in Democratic politics. Knut was born approximately 1854, one of the eleven children of Dr. Haller Nutt and Julia Nutt; Dr.
Nutt was a wealthy cotton planter at Natchez, Mississippi. In 1860, Dr. Nutt began the construction of his mansion, Longwood,
designed by the architect Samuel Sloan. A Union sympathizer, Dr. Nutt suffered tremendous losses during the Civil War. After
his death in 1864, his widow filed a lawsuit against the Federal government in an attempt to recover some of the damages.
Sargeant Prentiss Knut attended the University of Virginia, and was admitted to the bar at Natchez in 1878. He then practiced
law in Washington, D.C., pursuing the settlement of the war claims of his own family and the claims of many other Southerners.
In 1896, he married Lily Barret who died in 1898, a few days after giving birth to their daughter Lily Knut Brown. At her
death, Lily Barret Knut willed her large estate to her daughter Lily Knut Brown; this will later became the subject of much
litigation in which father and daughter opposed each other. Sargeant Prentiss Knut was also involved in Democratic politics
and was the treasurer of the Mississippi Democratic Association in Washington, D.C; he died there in 1939 and was buried at
Longwood.
Scope and Contents
A collection of 2,700 items from 1830 to 1972; it contains professional papers and personal, professional, and family correspondence
of Sargeant Prentiss Knut. Included is material related to the Civil War claims regarding family property and other litigation,
including the settlement of Lily Barret Knut's estate. The collection also contains material from Knut's professional and
political career. Also included is correspondence of the Barret and Knut families, biographical information, notebooks, typewritten
copies of the diaries of Dr. Rush Nutt (1805) and Rittenhouse Nutt (1834), newspaper clippings and ephemera.
Processing Information
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1985. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the finding aid derived from a legacy
summary report. In 2022, Melissa Haley enhanced description of the presidential material present in the collection as part
of the American Presidential Papers Project.
General
Former call number: mssKnut papers.
Arrangement
Organized in the following series: 1. Personal and family correspondence; 2. Business correspondence of the Nutt family; 3.
Business, personal, and political correspondence of Sargeant Prentiss Knut; 4. Correspondence of the Barrett and Knut families;
5. Correspondence and documents relating to war claims; 6. Biographical and genealogical data; 7. Newspaper clippings and
ephemera; 7. Sargeant Prentiss Knut's notebooks, diaries of Rittenhouse Nutt and Dr. Rush Nutt (copies).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Lawyers -- Mississippi
Lawyers -- Washington (D.C.)
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
War damage compensation -- Southern States
Wills -- United States -- Cases
Mississippi -- History
Natchez (Miss.) -- History
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Estate records -- United States
Family papers -- Mississippi
Legal correspondence -- United States
Letters (correspondence) -- United States
Personal papers -- United States
Professional papers -- United States
Knut, Lily Barret, -1898
Nutt, Haller, 1816-1864
Nutt, Rittenhouse
Nutt, Rush, 1781-1837
Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
Democratic Party (Miss.)