L. D. Knox
Encyclopedia
Luther Divine Knox, Sr. , known as L.D. Knox, or "None of the Above" Knox, or Nota Knox (March 9, 1929—May 27, 2009), was a colorful politician
from Winnsboro
, the seat of Franklin Parish
in northeastern Louisiana
, who attracted national media attention in 1979 when he legally changed his name to "None of the Above" Knox to protest the lack of candidate choices. Knox claimed that the absence of choices led to the selection of the "lesser of two evils". He hence proposed that voters be given the "None of the Above" option if they reject the declared candidates for office.
Jigger in south Franklin Parish to Grady Perry Knox (1900–1985) and the former Leatrice Addis "Lee" Rogers. The Country
and rock and roll
musician
Allen "Puddler" Harris
is also a native of Jigger. During World War II
, Knox was an instructor to military service personnel in the area of combat and enemy resistance. A farmer
and timber
man, Knox owned some 1400 acres (5.7 km²) about Bayou Macon
, which he hand cleared and cultivated in what he considered to have been an aberrant but advanced style of agriculture.
, and even the office of U.S. President. In 1978, Knox and then Louisiana Secretary of State James H. "Jim" Brown of Ferriday
in Concordia Parish
, running as Democrats
, unsuccessfully challenged the reelection of freshman Democratic U.S. Representative Jerry Huckaby
. In 1979, Knox began the process of adding "None of the Above" to his name when he was a minor candidate in the gubernatorial election. He was unable to procure the name change until after the election was held. U.S. Representative David C. Treen
became the first Republican
governor since Reconstruction, and Knox finished seventh, with 6,327 votes, in the nonpartisan blanket primary.
Knox frequently challenged Representative Huckaby, having run as a Democrat in 1980 and as an Independent in 1982, 1990, and 1992. In 1998, he even ran for the United States Senate
seat held by the popular Democrat John B. Breaux
of Crowley
in south Louisiana. Republican Jim Donelon
, currently the Louisiana state insurance commissioner, also ran for the Senate that year.
Knox had planned to run for the Louisiana State Senate
in 1975 against incumbent Jim Brown but did not file after Brown promised to work in the Senate for "None of the Above" designation on state ballots. At the age of seventy, Knox was a candidate for sheriff
of Franklin Parish. Knox’s obituary says that he believed that "people as a whole were simply fed up with the two-party system of government, and he gave the people every opportunity to voice their sentiment."
Ironically, the only position that Knox nearly won was his first race, when in the 1963-1964 election cycle he contested the Franklin Parish seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives
. He lost to incumbent
Lantz Womack
, a Winnsboro businessman and banker, in the Democratic primary
by only 18 votes, 3,544 to 3,526. Womack held the seat until 1976, having relinquished it in an unsuccessful bid for state agriculture commissioner.
In 1995, Knox ran for sheriff of Franklin Parish. He finished last in a four-candidate field. Voters instead chose Steve Pylant, the first Republican ever elected as sheriff in Franklin Parish.
. The family submitted the middle name to the newspaper as "Divine", but most news sources used "Devine" in the articles written after Knox's passing. In addition to Gary Knox, he was the father of twelve other children: Sandra, Janice, Sherry, Peggy, Reggie, Darryl D., Doyle, L. D. Jr, Jeffrey, Gregory, Angel, and Corey Knox. The obituary in the Monroe News Star
, the daily newspaper
in Monroe
, Louisiana, mentions no wife or wives but instead "a friend of thirty-five years" named Mrs. Mary Smith. Smith said that Knox had been divorce
d three times when she met him. Knox also had two surviving brothers, Grady Perry Knox Jr. (G. P.), Asy Knox, and two sisters, Gussie Collins, and Porsha Perot. Services were held on June 2, 2009, at the chapel of Riser Funeral Home in Columbia
, with Brother Kenneth Collinsworth officiating. Interment was at the Shady Grove Cemetery at Jigger.
Pallbearer
s included Judge Rudy McIntyre, former State Representative Lelon Kenney, Mayor Jack M. Hammons (1937–2010) of Winnsboro, Roger Beall, Gary Rider, and Allen George. Knox listed then imprisoned Governor Edwin Washington Edwards as an honorary pallbearer.
Mayor Hammons described Knox, accordingly: "He was always very interested in politics, and he had the best interest of Franklin Parish and the state of Louisiana at heart. He just couldn't quite pull it off." Hammons suggested too that Knox may have "talked a little above most people's heads." Knox’s own political thinking was liberal, but he, according to Hammons, “didn't believe in party politics ... [and] thought people had a right to vote how they chose, and didn't necessarily need to follow a party line."
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from Winnsboro
Winnsboro, Louisiana
Winnsboro is a city in and the parish seat of Franklin Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of July 2009, the estimated city population was 4,377...
, the seat of Franklin Parish
Franklin Parish, Louisiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 21,263 people, 7,754 households, and 5,706 families residing in the parish. The population density was 34 people per square mile . There were 8,623 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile...
in northeastern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, who attracted national media attention in 1979 when he legally changed his name to "None of the Above" Knox to protest the lack of candidate choices. Knox claimed that the absence of choices led to the selection of the "lesser of two evils". He hence proposed that voters be given the "None of the Above" option if they reject the declared candidates for office.
Background
Knox was born in ruralRural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
Jigger in south Franklin Parish to Grady Perry Knox (1900–1985) and the former Leatrice Addis "Lee" Rogers. The Country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
Allen "Puddler" Harris
Allen "Puddler" Harris
Allen W. "Puddler" Harris is a rock and roll and country musician who played piano in the original Ricky Nelson Band in Hollywood, California, and the last Jimmie Davis band in Louisiana...
is also a native of Jigger. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Knox was an instructor to military service personnel in the area of combat and enemy resistance. A farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
and timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
man, Knox owned some 1400 acres (5.7 km²) about Bayou Macon
Bayou Macon
Bayou Macon is a river in Arkansas and Louisiana, United States. It begins in Desha County, Arkansas, and flows south, between the Boeuf River to its west and the Mississippi River to its east, before joining the Tensas River south of Delhi, Louisiana. Bayou Macon is about long.L. D...
, which he hand cleared and cultivated in what he considered to have been an aberrant but advanced style of agriculture.
Running for office
Knox claimed to have run for more offices than nearly any other American citizen, having sought the Louisiana governorship, the 5th District slot in the U.S. Congress, a seat in the Louisiana State LegislatureLouisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
, and even the office of U.S. President. In 1978, Knox and then Louisiana Secretary of State James H. "Jim" Brown of Ferriday
Ferriday, Louisiana
Ferriday is a town in Concordia Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population, which is three-fourths African American, was 3,723 at the 2000 census....
in Concordia Parish
Concordia Parish, Louisiana
Concordia Parish borders the Mississippi River in eastern Louisiana. The parish seat is Vidalia. As of 2000, the population was 20,247. It is part of the Natchez, MS–LA Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Prehistory:...
, running as Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, unsuccessfully challenged the reelection of freshman Democratic U.S. Representative Jerry Huckaby
Jerry Huckaby
Thomas Jerald Huckaby, usually known as Jerry Huckaby , is a retired businessman who served as a Democratic U.S. representative from the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana between 1977 and 1993...
. In 1979, Knox began the process of adding "None of the Above" to his name when he was a minor candidate in the gubernatorial election. He was unable to procure the name change until after the election was held. U.S. Representative David C. Treen
David C. Treen
David Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...
became the first Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
governor since Reconstruction, and Knox finished seventh, with 6,327 votes, in the nonpartisan blanket primary.
Knox frequently challenged Representative Huckaby, having run as a Democrat in 1980 and as an Independent in 1982, 1990, and 1992. In 1998, he even ran for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat held by the popular Democrat John B. Breaux
John Breaux
John Berlinger Breaux is a former United States senator from Louisiana who served from 1987 until 2005. He was also a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1972 to 1987. He was considered one of the more conservative national legislators from the Democratic Party...
of Crowley
Crowley, Louisiana
Crowley is a city in and the parish seat of Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 14,225 at the 2000 census. The city is noted for its annual International Rice Festival. Crowley has the nickname of "Rice Capital of America", because at one time it was a major center for...
in south Louisiana. Republican Jim Donelon
Jim Donelon
James J. "Jim" Donelon has been the Republican insurance commissioner of Louisiana since February 15, 2006.Donelon won a full-term as commissioner in the October 20, 2007 nonpartisan blanket primary. He finished with 606,534 votes and defeated three opponents, the closest of whom, Democrat Jim...
, currently the Louisiana state insurance commissioner, also ran for the Senate that year.
Knox had planned to run for the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
in 1975 against incumbent Jim Brown but did not file after Brown promised to work in the Senate for "None of the Above" designation on state ballots. At the age of seventy, Knox was a candidate for sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of Franklin Parish. Knox’s obituary says that he believed that "people as a whole were simply fed up with the two-party system of government, and he gave the people every opportunity to voice their sentiment."
Ironically, the only position that Knox nearly won was his first race, when in the 1963-1964 election cycle he contested the Franklin Parish seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
. He lost to incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Lantz Womack
Lantz Womack
Lantz Womack was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who served mostly Franklin Parish, from 1958, when he won a special election caused by the death of a freshman member, until his retirement in 1976...
, a Winnsboro businessman and banker, in the Democratic primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
by only 18 votes, 3,544 to 3,526. Womack held the seat until 1976, having relinquished it in an unsuccessful bid for state agriculture commissioner.
In 1995, Knox ran for sheriff of Franklin Parish. He finished last in a four-candidate field. Voters instead chose Steve Pylant, the first Republican ever elected as sheriff in Franklin Parish.
Death, family, and legacy
According to son Gary Devon Knox (born ca. 1952) of Crowville in Franklin Parish, Knox died of Alzheimer’s disease at a Winnsboro nursing homeNursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
. The family submitted the middle name to the newspaper as "Divine", but most news sources used "Devine" in the articles written after Knox's passing. In addition to Gary Knox, he was the father of twelve other children: Sandra, Janice, Sherry, Peggy, Reggie, Darryl D., Doyle, L. D. Jr, Jeffrey, Gregory, Angel, and Corey Knox. The obituary in the Monroe News Star
Monroe News Star
The News-Star is the principal newspaper of Monroe and northeastern Louisiana. Its circulation area ranges over some dozen parishes from Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish, on the west, to Tallulah in Madison Parish on the east, to the Arkansas state line on the north, and to Ferriday in Concordia...
, the daily newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
in Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
, Louisiana, mentions no wife or wives but instead "a friend of thirty-five years" named Mrs. Mary Smith. Smith said that Knox had been divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d three times when she met him. Knox also had two surviving brothers, Grady Perry Knox Jr. (G. P.), Asy Knox, and two sisters, Gussie Collins, and Porsha Perot. Services were held on June 2, 2009, at the chapel of Riser Funeral Home in Columbia
Columbia, Louisiana
Columbia is a town in and the parish seat of Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 477 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Columbia is located at ....
, with Brother Kenneth Collinsworth officiating. Interment was at the Shady Grove Cemetery at Jigger.
Pallbearer
Pallbearer
A pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....
s included Judge Rudy McIntyre, former State Representative Lelon Kenney, Mayor Jack M. Hammons (1937–2010) of Winnsboro, Roger Beall, Gary Rider, and Allen George. Knox listed then imprisoned Governor Edwin Washington Edwards as an honorary pallbearer.
Mayor Hammons described Knox, accordingly: "He was always very interested in politics, and he had the best interest of Franklin Parish and the state of Louisiana at heart. He just couldn't quite pull it off." Hammons suggested too that Knox may have "talked a little above most people's heads." Knox’s own political thinking was liberal, but he, according to Hammons, “didn't believe in party politics ... [and] thought people had a right to vote how they chose, and didn't necessarily need to follow a party line."