This study examines the public and private careers of a dedicated public servant, William Valentine Knott. From the Progressive Era through the New Deal, Knott served Florida as Auditor, Comptroller, State Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner, and Director of the State Mental Hospital in Chattahoochee. As a Cabinet officer, he was on the major boards of Florida's government. Of special interest are his contributions to the Board of Education and the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund. He lost one of Florida's most controversial gubernatorial elections, in 1916. / In addition to a career in politics, Knott developed a private career which mirrored the economic development of the state for a seventy year period. He grew citrus in the 1880s, managed phosphate mines in the 1890s, and speculated in south Florida land from the 1920s through the 1950s, while investing in lumber, "truck farming," an ice factory, cemeteries, and numerous other ventures. Many details of his personal finances have been destroyed, but some notable connections between his public and private lives are apparent. / Knott's family life embodies as much history as his professional life. His wife, Luella Pugh, was highly visible as a community reformer at a time when most Southern women shunned public roles. She bridged the gap between the ornamental Victorian woman and the Progressive Era activist. Her published and unpublished writings describe Southern society during the first half of the twentieth century, and the ambivalence of women as they created public lives for themselves. One of their sons occupied a nearly unique position in Tallahassee society through his close relationship with the northerners who transformed area plantations from "cotton to quail" following the Civil War. As a family of some wealth, they employed servants and tenant farmers. A description of race and class relations is included. / The emphasis is on the forty years Knott served in state government, between 1897 and 1941. A chronological approach is employed, using traditional methodologies. Primary sources include fifty cubic feet of family papers, governors' papers, legislative reports, newspapers, and other government documents. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-11, Section: A, page: 3623. / Major Professor: John H. Moore. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77289 |
| Contributors | Waddell, Cynthia Roberson., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 348 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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