ship captain, land speculator, politician, b. Chatham, Mass. During the War of 1812 he served as a sailor on a privateer, and after the war entered the U.S. revenue marine service as captain of a Great Lakes revenue cutter. While serving on Lake Michigan, Knapp noted the mouth of the Root River in Wisconsin as a possible site for future settlement. In 1828 he went to New York where he engaged in the mercantile business, but in 1833 sold his business interests and moved west. In Nov., 1834, he made his way to the Root River, where he established a pre-emptor's claim. He secured capital from friends in Chicago and New York, and in 1835 platted lots for the townsite of Port Gilbert (now Racine). A Democrat, when Wisconsin Territory was organized, Knapp was elected to the upper house of the legislature and served from 1836 to 1838. In 1838 he was among a group of early settlers who gave financial backing to the establishment of the Racine Argus, the first newspaper in the village. During the same years, Knapp was engaged in a struggle to establish legal title to his land claims, a job made difficult because of the federal law of 1836 forbidding pre-emption of lands platted for townsites. His title was eventually secured in 1842 when the county seat was established on his claim. Knapp again served in the U.S. revenue service both before and after the Civil War. He was state assemblyman (1861), and for a number of years commanded the Great Lakes revenue cutter "Fessenden." He retired from active service in 1874, and spent the remainder of his life in Racine. J. G. Gregory, ed., S.E. Wis. (4 vols., Chicago, 1932); R. H. Whitbeck, Geography and Econ. Development of S.E. Wis. (Madison, 1921); Racine Daily Journal, Aug. 6, 1887; WPA MS.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]