California Biographies Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from its earliest settlement to the present time. Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905 Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176 JOHN ALBERT KNAPP. Previous experience in different departments of agriculture qualified Mr. Knapp for successful work in the cultivation of the property which he began to operate in 1897 and which became his by right of purchase five years later. The quarter section lies within a few miles of Tulare and is under irrigation, Mr. Knapp having the use of water from the ditch, in addition to his own continuously flowing artesian well eleven hundred and fifty feet deep, with a connecting reservoir which covers one-half acre. In order to secure the feed necessary for the milk cows used in his dairy business he has seventy acres under alfalfa and a smaller acreage in grain. Besides dairying he makes a specialty of fruit and has twenty acres in a vineyard, also thirteen acres in an orchard of assorted fruits. Another specialty, and one in which he maintains a warm interest, is that of apiarist having nearly fifty colonies of bees, and this industry has proved a source of considerable profit in return for the amount invested therein. The Knapp family comes from German stock. Henry Knapp crossed the ocean and settled in Fulton county, Ohio, later removing to a farm in Williams county, the same state, but even- tually returning to Fulton county, where his last days were spent. Accompanying across the ocean, among other members of the family, was a son, Daniel Knapp, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, and was a youth of eighteen when he became a resident of the United States. Near Archbold, Fulton county, he evolved a farm from the forest, a task that demanded the most arduous and long-continued labor. Later he removed to Williams county and bought a farm there. Since retiring from active farm cares he has made his home in the city of West Unity, Williams county. His wife, who survives to enjoy his present prosperity, was Rachel Spiess, a native of Canton Zurich, Switzerland, and a daughter of Henry Spiess. When she was a child the family came to the United States, her father first settling in Fulton county, Ohio, later removing to Williams county and then returned to Fulton county, where he died, aged about ninety-six years. Among seven children now living (five sons and two daughters) John Albert Knapp is the eldest, and was born near Archbold, Fulton county, Ohio, June 11, 1859. After 1864 he was reared in Williams county, where he received a common- school education. Reared to farm pur- suits and possessing a fondness for the work, he chose agriculture for his life occupation, and in addition to cultivating a farm he operated a steam thresher in that part of the country for ten years. His arrival in California occurred February 10, 1891, and soon afterward he bought twenty acres near Tulare. Of this tract five acres were in orchard, and the same amount respectively in a vineyard and alfalfa. After three years on that place he removed to the Lake- side country in Kings county, where he combined dairying and grain farming. In 1897 he moved to the place which five years later he acquired by purchase and of which he is still the owner. During his residence in Ohio he was united in marriage, in Williams county, Novem- ber 28, 1880, with Miss Effie C. Rittenour, a native of that county and a daughter of George and Sarah (Hisey) Rittenour. Her father came from his native state of Virginia to Ohio and. settled in Columbiana county, where he met and married Miss Hisey. From there he moved to Williams county, where he added shoe-making to general farm pursuits. Now, at eighty-six years of age, he is still living on the old homestead near Bryan, that county. Of his thirteen children all but three attained maturity and eight are now living, Mrs. Knapp being next to the youngest of the family. Born of her marriage are five children, namely : Daisy, wife of J. L. Crye, of Kings county; Ivy, wife of B. E. Matthews, of Kern, this state; Ernest, who as- sists his father on the home farm ; Florence and George also at home. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church of Tulare. In politics Mr. Knapp has always been a pronounced Republican, while in social organizations he holds membership with the Fraternal Aid. Keenly interested in educational matters, he has given his most efficient service to the Buena Vista school district, of whose board of trustees he is a member, and for five years has acted as clerk of the board.