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According to the limited records I have, William Knapp was born in 1775 in Dutchess County, New York. I have been unable to determine the names of his parents after searching all of the Knapp surname books I can find, and reviewing many other books like the Dutchess County surname book.
Since he married Sarah Cutter of Woodbridge, NJ in about 1804, and had several children there before the family moved to Newton, Sussex, NJ, it is probably that, as a 25 year old man, he had left Dutchess County NY before 1800.
In Post 1, I reviewed the Knap(p) entries in the 1790 U.S. Census trying to identify families that have a 15 year old white male. There were 32 families, of which 22 had a white male under age 16.
One of the resources I have in the genea-cave is a photocopy of the 900+ page book Nicholas Knapp Genealogy, compiled by Alfred Averill Knapp, M.D., published in Winter Park, Florida in 1953.
There is also a Supplement to Nicholas Knapp Genealogy compiled by Alfred Averill Knapp, M.D. in 1956. I don't have a complete copy of the Supplement. The Supplement indicates that William Knapp (1775-1856) is #G-109 from the first volume. The entry in the first volume for G-109 lists him as a son of #F-34 Shubel Knapp (1757-1831), who married Rebecca Mead (1767-1830) before 1788. The family apparently resided in Greenwich, Connecticut. The entry for #G-109 William says:
"G-109 William, b. 1788, d. Jan. 13, 1830 or Aug. 13, 1832, age 46 years. Round Hill Cemetery. m. Sarah Cutter (?)."
By all indications, this identification of William Knapp (1775-1856) as the son of Shubel and Rebecca (Mead) Knapp is wrong. All of the information I have for the year of William's birth (only the age 81 at death in 1856, the age of 60 to 70 in the 1840 census, the age 75 in the 1850 census, and the birth of the first child with Sarah Cutter in about 1804) supports a birth date of about 1775; Shubel Knapp would have been age 18 in 1775, and Rebecca would have been age 8 in 1775.
Back to the Nicholas Knapp genealogy. This book has thousands of Knapp families listed. some of them are residing in Dutchess County, New York in the late 1700s. Last night, I went through my list of Knapp families in Dutchess County, NY in the 1790 U.S. Census, and could identify only 10 of the 32 census entries in the book. Those families were:
D-75: Benjamin Knapp (1738-1795) and Sarah Smith (?), resided in Peekskill and Putnam County, NY. Had children John S. Knapp (1772-1850); Elijah Knapp (1775-1826); Israel Knapp (1776-????); Catherine Knapp (????-????); David Knapp (1771-1815); Phebe Knapp (????-????). Benjamin was a Revolutionary War soldier
D-85: Joseph Knapp (1740-1830) and Mary Clark, resided in Peekskill, NY. They had children Joseph Knapp (1777-1830).
D-76: Israel Knapp ( 1727-1789) and Mary Henion (????-1797), resided in Dutchess County, NY. They had children Sarah Knapp (1771-1776); Rebecca Knapp (1772-1776); David Knapp (1774-1847); Elijah Knapp (1775-1826); Susanna Knapp (1778-????); Frederick Knapp (1780-1837); Elizabeth Knapp (1783-1842); Samuel Knapp (1785-1845); Samantha Knapp (????-????).
C-21: Moses Knapp Sr. (1710-1795) married Elizabeth Ogden (1702-1770), resided in Peekskill and Yorktown, NY). They had children Althea Knapp (1730-????); Daniel Knapp (1733-????); Abigail Knapp (1735-1753); David Knapp (1738-????); Joseph Knapp (1740-????); Moses Knapp (1742-????); Benjamin Knapp (1745-1853); Eli Knapp (????-????).
D-86: Moses Knapp Jr. (1742-1833) married 1761 Mary Humphrey or Elizabeth Hatfield. Had children Moses Knapp (1773-1839). They moved to Montreal, Canada after the Revolutionary War.
D-74: William Knapp ( 1725/30-????) married Jane --?-- (?). They had children Jonathan Knapp (1775-????); William Knapp (1777/9-????, married Phebe?); Moses Knapp (????-????); Phoebe Knapp (????-????).
D-87: Benjamin Knapp (1745-1853) married Sarah Smith (?), resided in Peekskill, NY. They had John Knapp (1768-1870).
E-76: Phineas Knapp (1739-1814) married 1758 Mercy Rundell (1743-1826, resided in Dutchess County, NY. They had children Phineas Knapp (1768-1841); Abraham Knapp (1775-????); Mary Knapp ( 1763-1842); Rachel Knapp (1760-1839); Mercy Knapp (1759-????); Elizabeth Knapp (1766-????); Samantha Knapp (1773-1845); David Knapp (1776-1815?); Annor Knapp (1778-????); Tamma Knapp (1779-????); Charlotte Knapp (1785-1876); Abraham Rundell Knapp (1788-1864).
F-123: Phineas Knapp ( 1768-1841) married Rebecca Westfall (????-1852). They had 15 children.
E-193: Thomas Knapp (1730-1804) married 1758 Lois Newcomb Bearse (1728-????). They had children Zerviah Knapp (1759-????); Mary Knapp (1760-????); Josiah Knapp (1763-????); Daniel Knapp (????-????).
E-192: Peter Knapp (1730/40-????) married Martha Bearse (1738-????), resided Amenia, NY. Newcomb (1778-1861); Benedict (1782-1833); Asa Knapp (1767-1807); Peter Knapp (1770-????); Zilpha Knapp (1771/2-1829); Lois Knapp ( 1750-1834); Josiah Knapp (1762-1842); Samuel Knapp (176?-1805?).
The only real candidate in those families is #E-245 William Knapp (1777/9-????), who married Phebe --?-- and had children William Knapp (1795-????) and Jonathan Knapp (1809-????).
All of the above assumes that Arthur Knapp correctly identified the names, dates, places and relationships from the myriad data available to him in 1953.
Based on the above, I think that I can eliminate all of the ten entries above as possible parents of my William Knapp (1775-1856).
What next? Several correspondents suggested looking at the names of the children of William and Sarah (Cutter) Knapp to see if there are recurring names which appear in other records.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2024.
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3 comments:
You might try looking for a Knapp will naming "my son William". NEHGS has recently put the Eardeley will abstracts online:
Abstracts of Wills, Admins. and Guardianships in NY State, 1787-1835. I looked but didn't find anything helpful.
There is a very interesting article by Henry Hoff in the latest (Fall 2011) issue of American Ancestors (the newsmagazine of NEHGS) titled "Navigating New York Probate". He mentions that in 1830 there was a NY law passed that required a petition listing all heirs of a decedant. The FHL has microfilm of them for some counties. From a table he shows, it looks like they have Dutchess Co. for 1793-1868. As they say, Read the whole thing.
And, if you want to pursue the probate angle, you should read New York State Probate Records by Gordon L. Remington. It has been newly updated and is available from NEHGS.
I'm curious how you know he was born in Dutchess Co. Do you know where he and Sarah were married?
Where did he die? Have you searched for an obit?
Where does William claim to have been born in the 1850 and 1855 censuses?
Which families from the 1790 census in Dutchess county with a son under 16 have a son over 16 in the 1800 census? i.e.
Have you used the series the Beekman Patent? They have passed the K's so, it should have everyone listed.
With all the errors in the first printing, what would it cost to publish a new genealogy with all the corrections. The 1953 printing has caused major headaches.
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