Katarina (Norgran) Knight

Katherine is pictured here as a young woman. She would 
have been about 20 years old in this picture.

Date of Birth

Katherine was born on 12 August, 1899. My source for this date is the Family Bible handed down from her father to my grandmother. I have no outside sources to confirm this.

Place of Birth

She was the first of three children born to Anna and Joseph Norgran in Rotterdam, Holland. I have made this supposition from the ship manifest of the S.S. Potsdam, which states that Anna's residence prior to coming to America was in Rotterdam. The Burke family, which has kept or discovered some records not available to me, maintains the same.

Name at Birth

Named Katarina in the Family Bible, the eldest Norgran child used the Americanized "Katherine," and was also known as "Kate" among family. Various documents from her adulthood and the memory of my grandmother confirm this.

Arrival in America

Katherine arrived in America with her mother on May 17, 1905 aboard the S.S. Potsdam. She was a few months shy of her 6th birthday. Look at Anna's profile for the full story.

Marriage

Katherine married Richard Knight (known as Uncle Dick to my grandmother) on the 9th of August 1921. The Burkes provide the specific date, but the 1930 U.S. Federal Census confirms the year. She was almost 22 years old.

Richard was an Irishman who immigrated to the United States shortly before he and Katherine met and married (the Census gives his immigration year as 1920). At the time of the 1930 Census he was working as a tally keeper on a steamship, and Katherine was homemaking.

Children

The 1930 Federal Census lists the names of three daughters of Katherine and Richard: Kathleen, 7, Doris, 5, and Anna (Mom Mom remembers her as Anne), 3. That is all the documentation I have regarding her children, but my grandmother remembers two boys who came after, Richard, Jr., and Edward.

Residence

I have confirmed only one Baltimore address of Katherine in her adult life: 1347 Cooksie St. The 1930 Census gives this address, and describes it as a house owned by the Knights, having a value of $1,500. The document also specifies that there was a radio installed in the home.

In addition to this, my grandmother remembers a home in Pasadena, MD, on the beach. This would have been later, in the 40's. Mom Mom has specific memories of visiting there for a week in 1945.

Death

The Family Bible bears the date 26 October 1975 as the date of Katherine's death. I do not have any outside documents relating to this. My grandmother attended the funeral with her mother, Madeline, Katherine's younger sister. Mom Mom does not remember for sure, but she supposes the cause of death to have been a stroke. Katherine was 76 years old.

Remembrances (of my grandmother, niece to Katherine)

Aunt Katherine made the best crab soup. The crabs came out of the Bay, and Kate knew just how to treat them in her kitchen off the beach. She wore her hair up in braids; she was pretty, and nice. She impressed herself on the memory of an eight year old, my grandmother, forever, when she called the child "good as gold."

The Pasadena beach home was at least occasionally filled with song. Mom Mom remembers Uncle Burkey (Alfred Burke, brother-in-law to Katherine) at the piano and everyone else gathered around singing, "wedding bells are breaking up that old gang of mine." Uncle Dick would give her a quarter, a fortune in her mind, and smile on her kindly. The city girl found them, and their beach lifestyle, most fascinating.

Sources

Norgran Family Bible

United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.