KNOWLES/KNOLES/NOLES Family Association

The KNOWLES/KNOLES/NOLES Family Association was formed officially in 1985.  The organization met for the first time in 1978 when Joan Goodall KNOWLES arranged an informal gathering of KNOWLES cousins to exchange genealogical information.  The original Bylaws for the Association were issued in November 1998.

The original objective of the Association was to learn, document, and share as much information as possible about the genealogy and family history concerning the Edmund “Old Silverhead” KNOWLES line.  Edmund KNOWLES (1685-1762) emigrated from Bolton, Lancashire County, England to the British Colony of Virginia in 1699/1700.  The research and documentation for the “Old Silverhead” KNOWLES descendants and ancestors will continue.

In recent years, the Association and its members have increased the genealogical focus of the organization to include many additional KNOWLES progenitors who immigrated to the American Colonies before the Revolutionary War (some as early as the second quarter of the 17th century) and in some cases since the War.  This expanded focus is in recognition of the fact that there were many KNOWLES families living in the Colonies (and in the States during the early days of an independent America) who were descendants from many different KNOWLES progenitors from the British Isles.  Knowledge of the genealogy of all the various KNOWLES lines is necessary in order to understand the family history and assure accuracy of the overall research.

Most, if not all, of the present day KNOWLES (all spellings) families descend from lines originating from a variety of locations in the British Isles; i.e., England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.  The present day generic name of KNOWLES in most cases probably originated during medieval times from an adaptation of the English word “knoll” for a small round hill. The surname for many British Isles medieval families living near or on a small hill may have evolved from Knock, to Knoll, to Cnoll, to Knowlers, to Knollys, to Knowlman and eventually to KNOWLES, KNOLES and NOLES and the other spellings in use today.  Most of these medieval KNOWLES families from the different geographical areas in the British Isles were probably not related, but shared the same surname.  A few of the medieval KNOWLES families from different locations may have been related based on the seminaries of the coats-of-arms registered for KNOWLES families living in significantly different geographical locations in the British Isles.

Starting as early as the 16th century and certainly by the 17th century, some KNOWLES families migrated from their ancestral homes in Great Britain to other locations within Great Britain as well as to many locations outside of the Empire.  The immigrations were primarily to the British American Colonies, but some also traveled to Canada, Bermuda, British West Indies, Barbados, etc.  During the turbulent Colonial times in the decades just prior to the Revolutionary War, additional migrations of the various KNOWLES families took place.  For example, many who were loyal to the British Crown, migrated to Canada.  After the Revolutionary War, bounty land for War service started a whole new migration thrust within the former Colonies.

As a result of the KNOWLES immigrations from Great Britain to the Colonies and then the migrations that occurred after the War, KNOWLES from different British Isles progenitors were living in some of the same regions of the U.S. by the early 19th century.  In recognition of the wide and varied possibilities for the ancestors of present day KNOWLES families, this Association is now fully open equally to all KNOWLES families.  In addition, the Association is building a KNOWLES Genealogy and Family History knowledge base that includes all KNOWLES families (all spellings).  These revised Bylaws cover the mission, purpose and objectives of the Association as they relate to an expanded KNOWLES focus.

Reference to KNOWLES families or lines on this Web site shall be construed to mean any family with the KNOWLES surname regardless of how the name is currently or was previously spelled.  In addition, some collateral lines that have married into a KNOWLES line on multiple occasions shall also be included for research and membership.

SHORT  HISTORY  of  the  KNOWLES/KNOLES/NOLES  Family  Association

The Knowles/Knoles/Noles Family Association traces its roots to a small Knowles Family gathering in Sacramento, California, in 1978 organized by Joan G. Knowles to exchange genealogy information among Knowles cousins.  This initial gathering was for family members of Joan's husband, Richard J. Knowles (1923-1998), and a small circle of Knowles family researchers including Lillian (Knowles) Higgins (1909-2002) [Lillian was a charter member of the Association and a lifetime honoree member who passed away in November 2002].  Another Knowles gathering organized by Joan G. Knowles was held in Colorado in 1983.  In 1985, a Knowles Reunion was held in Branson, Missouri, and the official Knowles/Knoles/Noles Family Association was formed with the first election of Officers.  development of Bylaws for the Association came later).  Periodic Reunions and Business Meetings of the Association have continued and are now held on a biennial basis on even numbered years.  The Association name, which includes the three major ways the Knowles surname is typically spelled in the U.S., was adopted to signify that membership did not depend on the way a particular Knowles family line had decided to spell the Knowles surname.

The original primary objective of the Knowles/Knoles/Noles Family Association as it was initially conceived was to learn, document, and share as much as possible about the genealogy and family history of the Edmund "Old Silverhead" Knowles line.  Edmund Knowles (1685-1762) immigrated from England to the Colony of Virginia in 1699/1700 as an indentured servant for Jonathan Livesay.  Edmund's boyhood home was in Bolton, Lancashire, England, and he sailed to America from Liverpool.   In the early 1700s, after serving out his indenture in Virginia, Edmund migrated north to the old Delaware and Maryland Colonies.  In the later years of the 18th century, some of Edmund's descendants migrated to North Carolina and Georgia.  From these families, later generations migrated to all the southern states, plus Indiana and Illinois.  Still later generations migrated further west and all the way to California. 

The Association and its members have a great deal of knowledge concerning the "Old Silverhead" Knowles lines.  Chances are if you can trace your Knowles ancestors to north central Georgia in the late 1700s and early 1800s, your Knowles ancestor is probably a descendant of "Old Silverhead" Knowles.

In recent years, the Association and its members have broadened the focus and the membership of the organization to include the many other Knowles (all spellings) lines living in the same geographical areas where descendants of "Old Silverhead" were located during the 18th and 19th centuries.  There are several other Knowles lines originating in England and Scotland that initially settled in Virginia and North Carolina, before migrating south and west in the 19th century.  One of the major pockets for Knowles families that are apparently not connected to the "Old Silverhead" line was centered in the original New Hanover County, North Carolina, area in the 1700s.  Some of these Knowles migrated to other parts of North Carolina and into Georgia.  These migrations in some cases have placed descendants of the New Hanover Knowles families in the same Georgia counties as the "Old Silverhead" Knowles in the 1800s.  The Association now welcomes all of these other "southern" Knowles families as well, and the Association has research initiatives to learn more about these Knowles families as well.

There are also major Knowles families in the U.S. today who trace their Knowles ancestry to Knowles progenitors from England who settled in the New England Colonies as far back as the early 17th century (just a few years after the Pilgrims).  Virginia (Knowles) Hufbauer has researched and  published a great deal about several  of these New England Knowles families  (the Massachusetts Cape Cod Knowles and the Rockingham Co., New Hampshire, Knowles).  The Knowles/Knoles/Noles Family Association now also welcomes members from these old time New England Knowles families.  Currently, not much research is being conducted by the Association concerning the descendants of the New England Knowles families, since the Hufbauer books are such an excellent resource.  However, research is being conducted in England to determine if one or more of the New England Knowles progenitors are related to one or more of the other American Knowles families.  Connections are suspected and, if proven, would be in the 14th, 15th or 16th centuries.  Due to the lack of sufficient documentation, perhaps only Genetic (DNA) testing of descendants will be able to substantiate these connections that date back to the middle ages.

In addition to the New England Knowles families documented so well by Virginia Hufbauer, there were several other major New England Knowles families who were well established in the Colonies by the end of the 17th Century; e.g., the Rhode Island Knowles (documented by Stanwood Knowles Bolton) and the Bucks Co., Pennsylvania Knowles (partially documented by E. D. Buckman).  The Association is researching these Knowles families as well as many other smaller factions who immigrated via Canada and others who quickly migrated west to and through New York State on to the Midwest as the Western Reserve opened up.

Membership in the KKNFA is now open to all Knowles (all spellings) descendants and their families.  The KKNFA is developing a library and a database to include the genealogies of all Knowles world-wide.

Robert B. Noles, Director

There are 62 people with my name (Robert Noles) in the U.S.A.

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