Fifty Years In The Northwest: With An Introduction And Appendix Containing Reminiscences, Incidents And NotesFolsom, William H. C. (William Henry Carman)
History
Fifty Years In The Northwest: With An Introduction And Appendix Containing Reminiscences, Incidents And Notes
Folsom, William H. C. (William Henry Carman)
Minnesota -- History; Wisconsin -- History
OSCAR F. KNAPP.--Capt. Knapp has been conspicuous as a steamboat
maker, owner and captain for the last thirty years. He was born in
Clinton county, New York, in 1831. At the age of fifteen years he came
West and located in Delavan, Wisconsin. In 1852 he removed to Osceola,
Wisconsin, where he engaged in lumbering for about four years. In 1856
he was married to Miss Angeline Hayes, of Osceola. In the same year he
engaged in the business of steamboating, with which he has been since
identified more or less. His first steamboat was the H. S. Allen,
which, in company with E. B. Strong, he bought of H. S. Allen, of
Chippewa Falls, in 1856, for $5,000. In 1862 he built the Enterprise,
a small but serviceable boat of light draft and fair speed. In 1864
Capt. Knapp built the Viola, owned by a stock company. In 1866 he
built the G. B. Knapp, in 1879 the Jennie Hayes, and ran these two
boats fourteen years. In 1877 he entered the employment of the United
States government, improving the navigation of the St. Croix river, in
which work he is still engaged. His two sons, Ben and George,
succeeded him in the steamboat business. Ben, the oldest son, was born
in Osceola in 1857; George, the second son, in 1859. These two boys
spent their childhood and youth on the river, and have grown up to be
expert pilots and captains, and inherit their father's popularity as
river men. Ben was married to Addie Talboys, June, 1880; George to
Claribel Wilson, in 1883. Capt. Knapp has two other children, Viola,
now Mrs. Arthur Johnson, and Guy, still a minor. Mrs. Angeline Knapp
died at her home in Osceola, March 6, 1883, respected and lamented by
all who knew her. Capt. Ben Knapp died Oct. 5, 1887, leaving a wife
and two children.
MRS. ELISABETH B. HAYES.--Mrs. Hayes was born in 1811, in Dundee,
Yates county, New York. In 1854 she removed with her husband to
Missouri. After his death, in the fall of the same year, she came with
her children to Osceola, where she built the Osceola House, which she
kept a number of years. The daughters were Angeline B. (Mrs. O. F.
Knapp), Mrs. Hubbell and Mrs. Milroy, of New York, and Mrs. Truman
Foster, widow, since the wife of Capt. C. G. Bradley. Her sons were
George, Frank and David. Capt. George Hayes followed piloting and
steamboating, excepting during the Rebellion, when he served as a
soldier in the Fourth Wisconsin Volunteers. In the latter part of the
war he served as a scout for Gen. Canby. At the present time he has
the appointment of steamboat inspector, with office in St. Paul. David
has been prominent as a steamboat captain. He now resides in Iowa.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account