Representative Charles Knapp

Charles Knapp (congressman) (1797–1880) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York in the mid-nineteenth century. He was born on October 8, 1797, in Colchester, Delaware County, New York, where he spent his early years in a rural setting typical of upstate New York in the post-Revolutionary period. Details of his early family life are sparse in the historical record, but his upbringing in Delaware County placed him within a region that was developing rapidly in agriculture, local commerce, and civic institutions during his youth.

Knapp received a basic education in local schools before studying law, a common path for aspiring professionals in the early nineteenth century. After reading law and completing the customary period of legal training, he was admitted to the bar and began practicing as an attorney in New York. His legal career led naturally into public service at the local level, where he became involved in county affairs and the administration of justice. He served as a judge of the court of common pleas in Delaware County, a position that reflected both his professional standing and his growing influence in regional politics.

By the 1850s, Knapp had established himself as a prominent figure in New York politics. He was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-seventh Congress, representing New York in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1863. His term coincided with the opening years of the American Civil War, a period of intense national crisis and legislative activity. As a member of Congress during this critical time, he participated in the federal government’s early wartime deliberations, though the detailed record of his specific committee assignments and floor activities is limited in surviving summaries. After serving a single term, he was not returned to Congress, and he resumed his legal and civic pursuits in New York.

Knapp’s family life was closely intertwined with public service. His son, Charles J. Knapp (1845–1916), followed him into national politics and also became a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York, continuing the family’s congressional legacy into the later nineteenth century. This father–son succession in the House of Representatives was notable in New York’s political history and underscored the Knapp family’s sustained engagement in public affairs.

In his later years, Charles Knapp remained in New York, where he continued to be identified with the legal profession and with the civic life of his community. He lived through the Civil War and Reconstruction eras into the period of rapid industrialization that transformed the United States in the late nineteenth century. He died on May 14, 1880, in Deposit, New York. His life and career, spanning from the early national period to the postwar era, reflected the evolution of New York and the nation, and his service in the House of Representatives established a political tradition that his son would carry forward.