Knapp, Augustus R.

Born: 1801-XX-XX Massachusetts

Died: 1862-07-13 Jerseyville, Illinois

Flourished: Jerseyville, Illinois

Augustus R. Knapp was prominent physician and surgeon in Jerseyville, Illinois. As a young man, Knapp moved from his native Massachusetts to Delaware County, New York. He studied medicine in New York City. In 1822, Knapp married Catherine Wyckoff in Schoharie County, New York. Their union produced five children, including U.S. representatives Anthony L. Knapp and Robert M. Knapp. In 1823, Knapp and his wife moved to New York City, where he practiced medicine until 1839. In that year, Knapp moved his family to Illinois, settling first in Kane in Greene County. In 1844, Knapp relocated to Jerseyville, where he established a large medical practice. In 1847, Knapp represented Jersey County at the Illinois Constitutional Convention. In 1849, he ventured to California in search of gold, returning home in 1854. He was a supporter of the Whig Party. In 1860, he was practicing medicine in Jerseyville and owned a personal estate of $500.

History of Greene and Jersey Counties, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Continental, 1885), 152, 156-57, 725-26; Arthur Charles Cole, ed., The Constitutional Debates of 1847, vol. 14 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library, Constitutional Series (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1919), 2:967; Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Jerseyville, Jersey County, IL, 20; Gravestone, Oak Grove Cemetery, Jerseyville, IL.