On September 13, 1943, right outside of Greensboro, North Carolina, Oliver Knight and his family settled in their home for what seemed like a peaceful Monday evening. Within an instant, that sense of serenity was interrupted, and nearly an entire family was lost. Unbeknownst to the Knights, in the sky up above, Lieutenant Marshall Mathieson had received clearance to make an emergency landing at Greensboro-High Point Airport some two miles from the family’s home. However, knowing he would never make it, Mathieson turned his attention to a large field in front of the Knight residence. Unfortunately, the plane clipped the top of a large pine tree and crashed down in the family garden located in the backyard. The plane then proceeded to plow into the back of the Knight house, through the kitchen, and came to a stop in the front room.

In the aftermath, it was discovered that four members of the Knight family plus Mathieson had perished in the horrific crash. Oliver Knight’s wife, Alta, his two daughters Wilma and Dorothy, and his son Oliver Jr. were all killed instantly – their bodies burned beyond recognition. Survivors of the wreckage included Knight’s sister Louetta Knight, who had climbed out a second story window onto the roof of the front porch, and Knight’s daughter Cornelia, who had crawled out the window of the front room. Mr. Knight only survived because he had gone outside to eat grapes from a vine near the house just moments before the plane hit.

This rocking chair, which has been in the Knight family since the 1800s, was blown out of the house into the front yard and was one of few pieces of furniture which survived the fire that ensued after the crash. You can still see the charred marks left on the chair from the deadly accident.