Charles Junius Knapp (June 30, 1845—June 1, 1916) was a politician and banker from Deposit, New York. He served in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

and in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

. He was indicted in the failure of the Binghamton Trust Company, the Knapp Bros. Bank, and the Outing Publishing Company.

Life

Charles J. Knapp was born on June 30, 1845, in Pepacton, New York (the town is now submerged under the

Pepacton reservoir The Pepacton Reservoir, also known as the Downsville Reservoir, is a reservoir in Delaware County, New York on the East Branch of the Delaware River in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Part of the New York City water supply system, it was fo ...

) near the town of Deposit. His family moved to Deposit in 1848, where his family owned the Knapp Bank. Knapp's father, Charles Knapp, was a banker and a Republican politician (he served in both the

as well as in the

). Knapp graduated from the

Delaware Literary Institute The Delaware Literary Institute was a secondary school located at Franklin, New York. In the mid-19th century it was one of the most prominent educational institutions in New York State. It operated from 1835 to 1902. History The Delaware Liter ...

(then the Franklin School) of Franklin, New York in 1863 and

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

(Class of 1866) in Clinton, New York (where he was a member of the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...

fraternity) and joined the family Knapp Bank. He married Charlotte Augusta Ford of Binghamton, NY on 16 February 1871 and had seven children with her. Knapp died on June 1, 1916, in

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

and is buried at the Laurel Bank Cemetery in Deposit.

Career

Knapp was a member of the

(Delaware Co.) in

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

and

1888 In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). The next year that also has 13 digits is the year 2388. The record will be surpassed as late ...

. He was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

51st United States Congress The 51st United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar Congress, was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Rep ...

, holding office from March 4, 1889, to March 3, 1891. While in Congress, he was a member of the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. He was an alternate delegate to the

1900 Republican National Convention The 1900 Republican National Convention was held June 19 to June 21 in the Exposition Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Exposition Auditorium was located south of the University of Pennsylvania, and the later Convention Hall was constr ...

. He also served as the President of the Board of Education and the Board of Supervisors of Delaware County New York. Knapp came from a banking family and he started his career as a banker with the family-run Knapp Bank of Deposit, New York. Later, he became the President of the Binghamton Trust Company of Binghamton, New York. He was also the President of the Outing Publishing Company of Deposit, New York.

The Binghamton Trust Company failure

On April 8, 1909, the Binghamton Trust Company suspended its operations and the private banks owned by the Knapp family in Deposit and

Callicoon, New York Callicoon is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 3,057 at the 2010 census. The town is in the northwestern part of the county. History The town was formed in 1842 from the Town of Liberty. The original spel ...

failed without warning largely because of large loans made by the Knapp Banks (over $700,000 on a deposit base of $650,000) headed by Charles P. Knapp (nephew of Charles J. Knapp) to The Outing Publishing Company, of which Charles J. Knapp was the President, and loans made by the Binghamton Trust Company to the Knapp Banks. Investigations revealed that the Knapp Bank was being bailed out by the Binghamton Trust Company of which Charles J. Knapp was the President. As a result, the Binghamton Trust Company also failed. Both Knapps were charged with criminally transferring money to an institution that they knew to be insolvent. Charles P. Knapp was sentenced to up to two years for his role in the failure. Charles J. Knapp was indicted, and was acquitted in 1913. Most Knapp family members declared bankruptcy. The building that housed the Knapp Bank currently serves as the home of the Deposit Historical Museum. The Northeastern Reporter
Gregory v. Binghamton Trust et. al.
1916, page 1080

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Charles Junius 1845 births 1916 deaths Hamilton College (New York) alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century American politicians