Author: Knox, William
Biography:
KNOX, William (fl 1801)
The attribution of The Clerical Candidates, based on the ms note in one copy, is widely accepted but questionable. The poem puts the case for rigorous training for the ministry in the US. The William Knox (1756-95) who had Washington connections and served briefly as US Consul in Ireland spent his last two years in an insane asylum in Philadelphia. The William Knox (1789-1825) who composed what is said to have been a favourite hymn of Abraham Lincoln's never left Scotland and in any case would have been only twelve years old at the time that The Clerical Candidates was published. Another Rev. William Knox (1762-1831) was an Irish bishop who never visited the US. No other credible candidate has been identified. HJ
Books written (1):
Washington City [DC]: [no publisher], 1801