Santa Clara County
Biographies
BERT E. KNAPP
This well-known speculator and capitalist of Mountainview (sic), Cal., is a native of Prairie du Sac, Sauk county, Wis., and began his existence November 3, 1868. He is the youngest of a family of six children, three being sons and three daughters, born to Oliver and Eliza (Waterbury) Knapp, and both parents were natives of the Green Mountain state. His father, who was born in Vermont, went to Wisconsin at an early day and located in Sauk county, where he followed mercantile life as the proprietor of a general store. In 1887 he went south for a time to De Land, Fla., and upon his return to the north, he settled at Charles City, Iowa, where he lived in retirement for a short time, prior to removing to San Francisco, and here the remainder of his life was spent. He died in 1902 and his widow still survives him, a resident of that city.
The common school education of Mr. Knapp was supplemented by a thorough course in the Valparaiso business college. Here he mastered every detail of business life so far as it was possible in a business academy, and he was, therefore, singularly fitted for a career in the field of endeavor to which he felt himself called, having a predilection for a business career and a desire to enter the world of commerce and manufacture. In partnership with a brother, Edward W., he engaged in the manufacture of paper at Rockford, Iowa, where they owned and operated a large paper mill, making only straw paper. Misfortune overtook them, however, in the shape of a disastrous fire, which burned their establishment to the ground. In 1888 Mr. Knapp went to South Dakota and engaged this time in the manufacture of stoves, obtaining a patent on a stove, which yielded fair returns, and he continued in business there until 1891, the date of his removal to California.
Having met with flattering success in a financial way, Mr. Knapp invested in land in the vicinity of Mountainview, and still in partnership with his brother he engaged in orcharding. The original purchase contained two hundred acres, and after improving the place and planting one hundred acres in orchards, the place was sold at an advance over the cost price, yielding a good profit to the owners. Mr. Knapp then built a handsome residence at Mountainview and still speculates in real estate, while his brother resides in San Jose, being also a speculator and capitalist. In Santa Clara, Cal, Mr. Knapp wedded Miss Lena Louisa Crocker and their family consists of one son and two daughters, namely, Helen Louise, Carol Crocker and Herbert Edward; all are at the home place. In religious views the family unite in worshiping at the Presbyterian Church, and in the field of politics Mr. Knapp follows the leadership of the Republican party, of which he is an active member and a close adherent. July 5, 1904, he in partnership with R. A. Morton began the manufacture of the Morton motor cars on which they have patents and in which business a bright future is predicted. His excellent business sagacity and ability are the things to which his success is attributed, in conjunction with unbound ambition, which in themselves will enable any one to achieve success. He is a valued member of the Grange society.
Transcribed
1-10-16 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
ญญญญSource:
History of the State of California &
Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A.
M., Page 926. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2016 Marilyn R.
Pankey.