William Valentine Knott
(1863-1965)

Died aged c. 102

William Valentine Knott was born in Georgia in 1863, and journeyed to Florida in a covered wagon in 1881. In 1885, he was appointed Deputy Clerk of the Court in Sumterville. He filled that post for three years, then held the same position in Putnam County for a year. In 1896 he was appointed by Hillsborough County to audit its accounts, and in 1897 Governor William Bloxham asked him to audit accounts statewide. As State Auditor for the next six years, Knott saved Florida’s citizens more than $100,000. In 1903 he was appointed State Treasurer. He held that post until 1912 when Governor Albert Gilchrist named him State Comptroller. After a defeat in his bid for governor in 1916, Knott served as superintendent of the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee from 1921 to 1927. In 1927, Governor John Martin appointed him State Comptroller, again. The next year Knott was appointed, then elected, State Treasurer, a position he filled until his retirement in 1941. William V. Knott died in 1965 at the age of 101.

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