Armanis F. Knotts

Armanis F. Knotts ( – October 3, 1937), also called A. F. Knotts, was an American politician and lawyer. He was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives and was instrumental in the foundings of both Gary, Indiana and Yankeetown, Florida.

Biography Knotts was born in Highland County, Ohio on either February 29, 1860 or January 29, 1856 to Frank D. and Margaret (Bell) Knotts. His father was a farmer and carpenter from Pennsylvania, and his mother, a native of Ohio, was the daughter of an early Irish settler of Ohio.

He was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1898 as the joint representative of Lake and Jasper counties. He served one term and then was elected mayor of Hammond from 1902 to 1904. Soon afterwards the Gary Land Company was set up in order to lay out the town and supervise its construction, with Knotts as its manager.

In 1923, Knotts moved to Florida and founded the town of Yankeetown.