of George Knapp & Co. George Knapp, as a young man, took an active part in militia matters, and, as lieutenant in the St. Louis Grays, went to Mexico on the breaking out of the war in 1846. On the return of his regiment he was promoted to the captaincy of the Grays, and afterward to the lieutenant colonelcy of the First Battalion, St. Louis Legion. During the Civil War he was on the Union side, and by his influence did much to temper the rigors of military rule in Missouri. In December, 1840, he married Miss Eleanor McCarten, daughter of Thomas McCarten, of St. Louis. Three daughters and nine sons, seven of whom survive, followed this union. In 1867, 1870 and 1879 Colonel Knapp visited Europe, where he traveled extensively. In 1883, his health becoming impaired, in company with one of his sons, he went to Germany in expectation of being benefited by the mineral springs, but, finding no relief, resolved to return. He died when three days out on the homeward passage. The intelligence of his death evoked universal sorrow. An immense concourse attended his funeral, which was conducted with military and civic honors, and the entire newspaper press of the city, and likewise the leading journals of the country, bore graceful tribute to his memory.

WILLIAM HYDE.

Knapp, John, conspicuous during his life among Western newspaper publishers, was born in New York City, June 20, 1816, and died at his home in St. Louis, November 12, 1888. His father died in 1823, and in his early childhood he was practically thrown upon his own resources. When he was but nine years of age he was sent to a farm near Bluffdale, Illinois, going to that place from St. Louis, his parents having removed to that city in 1820. Returning to St. Louis in his young manhood, he was interested for a time in the wholesale grocery business in that city, and was a successful merchant. In 1854 le purchased an interest in the "Missouri Republican," the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi River, and to the interests of that great paper he devoted the remainder of his life. In company with his brother, Colonel George Knapp, he developed this newspaper into the most powerful and influential journal of the Southwest, and under their joint management it became also the most valuable and remunerative piece of newspaper prop

erty in the vast region tributary to St. Louis. For many years prior to his death he was president of the corporation owning and conducting the "Republican"-now the "Republic"-and during these years his was the guiding genius of the paper. The position which he occupied was one which brought him prominently before the public, and, although he never sought official preferment of any kind, he was in the broadest sense of the term a public man, serving as a volunteer in the Mexican War, as a captain in the St. Louis Legion, and twice being commissioned colonel of regiments raised by the State of Missouri to support the Union cause during the Civil War. A review of his life and services is, therefore, of peculiar interest in this connection, and the following personal tribute of one who knew him well may appropriately close this sketch:

His

"The death of John Knapp removes a figure prominent in the history of our city and State. His life affords a lesson and example not rare, we are happy to say, in Western civilization, but always noble and inspiring because they illustrate the victory of energy and courage of youthful obscurity forcing its way to prominence and distinction. distinguishing characteristics, from his earlier days to the summit of his career, were courage, determination and independence. He was specially formed and fitted for the excitements and struggles incident to Western life, when great questions, great interests and rapid development demanded of every active citizen quick judgment, positive opinions and earnest convictions. He came to St. Louis as a child, at a time when it was but a river town, and from almost his early boyhood was dependent upon his own exertions. He tried farming, but it had few attractions; returned to the town, learned the trade of a tailor, and followed it for several years; then embarked in the wholesale grocery business, and finally identified himself, by the purchase of an interest, with the "Missouri Republican," and devoted his whole time and energies toward building up a great metropolitan journal. He was never a politician in the sense of office-seeking, but he was always a live, active, forceful factor in factor in the public life of his time. He evinced a deep interest in the State militia, serving in all grades, and at the outbreak of the Mexican War he gladly volun

teered for the national defense and went to Mexico as captain in a regiment of Missouri Volunteers. He held the rank of lieutenant colonel at the time of the capture of Camp Jackson, and subsequently served in the State forces in 1864. In reference to the Camp Jackson affair he always retained a profound disapproval of the violence displayed, insisting that on behalf of himself and colleagues no disloyalty to the Union had been contemplated, and that, in view of this fact, the loss of life was little less than murder. In moments of personal peril he was devoid of fear, nor could menacing surroundings compel him to repress the expression of his opinions. Omitting a mass of detail, domestic or public, it is thus seen that Colonel Knapp was essentially a man of his time—a man of action and influence. In the business management of a great newspaper he was always enterprising and progressive, and in all projects for the advancement of St. Louis and Missouri he evinced enthusiasm and energy. His own courage and self-confidence made him at times imperious and assertive, but there are very few, if any, who will remember him save as a genial, high-spirited gentleman, who accorded to all the liberty he demanded for himself. He fought his way from obscurity to prominence; he participated vigorously in the events and struggles of the times; he made his personal influence felt; he assisted many noble objects and institutions, and he leaves behind him an unblemished name and reputation, and many who lovingly regard his memory. It is men of his type that afford the best material for citizenship. The neutral, the men of sensibilities and emotions, have more poetic possibilities, more moral picturesqueness, but they are not so available for the practical demands of history. So long as alertness, courage and selfreliance are necessary to manhood and patriotism, common sense and public spirit are necessary to citizenship, there will be a strong need in every community for such a man as John Knapp. He deserves and holds the respect of society in the great city where his busy life was spent."

Colonel Knapp married, April 22, 1844, Miss Virginia Wright, who was born and reared in St. Louis. The members of his family who survived him were his widow, three sons and three daughters.

Knapp, Charles Welbourne, journalist and newspaper publisher, was born January 23, 1848, in St. Louis, son of Colonel John Knapp, of whom extended mention is made in the preceding sketch. He graduated from St. Louis University in the class of 1865 with the degree of bachelor of arts, and in 1867 received the degree of master of arts from the same institution. After completing his academic studies he studied law at Columbia College and the University of Kentucky, and received the degree of bachelor of laws from the last named institution. He served his apprenticeship to the profession of journalism on the "Missouri Republican," and in 1887, shortly preceding the death of his father, succeeded to the presidency and general management of the "St. Louis Republic." In this position he has maintained the high character of the oldest newspaper in the West, and fully sustained the reputation of the distinguished family to which he belongs for able newspaper management. Since 1891 he has been a member of the board of directors of the Associated Press, and one of the managers of the greatest news gathering agency in the world, and from 1895 to 1899 was also president of the American Newspaper Publishers' Association. As a citizen of St. Louis he has sought to contribute, with all the influences at his command, to the betterment of municipal government and the advancement of the city's material interests. From 1896 to 1899 he served as a member of the board of directors of the St. Louis Public Library, and he and his associates of this board are entitled to a large share of the credit for making the public library one of the most useful educational institutions of the city. To his enterprise, also, St. Louis I will be indebted for one of the most notable business edifices in the city, the "Republic's" new building, erected in 1900, at the corner of Seventh and Olive Streets. This building, which resembles in many respects the "New York Herald" building— "the model newspaper building of the world"

and which has been designed with special regard to the requirements of a great publication business, is one of the most attractive newspaper buildings in the West, and one of which the city of St. Louis, as well as Mr. Knapp and the owners of the "Republic," may be pardonably proud.

Kneisley, Russell, lawyer and legislator, was born April 9, 1868, in Carrollton, Carroll County, Missouri, son of Reuben H. and Emma L. Kneisley, both of whom were natives of Virginia, and came from that State to Missouri in 1857. Mr. Kneisley was reared in Carrollton and obtained his education in the public schools of that place. After completing his education in the high school he read law in the office of Mr. Virgil Conkling, of Carrollton, and in March of 1894 was admitted to the bar. Immediately afterward he was admitted to a professional partnership with his former preceptor, Mr. Conkling, and this association continued four years. At the end of that time he became a member of the firm of Busby & Kneisley, which is still in existence, his partner being Mr. William G. Busby. As a lawyer Mr. Kneisley has taken a prominent place among the younger members of the northwestern Missouri bar. Aggressiveness, quick perceptions, keen wit, liberal views and a pro-, gressive spirit are among his distinguishing characteristics, and conscientious devotion to professional labors has won for him the high esteem of his brother practitioners and the general public. He has taken an active interest in politics as a member of the Democratic party, and in 1898 was elected a Representative in the General Assembly from Carroll County, and is still filling that office. In 1900 he was chairman of the Democratic central committee of his county, and effected such a thorough organization of the party forces that for the first time in ten years that party elected every candidate for office on its county ticket. In fraternal circles Mr. Kneisley is known as an active member of the order of Knights of Pythias. He married Miss Hattie S. Cooper, daughter of Dr. J. C. Cooper, of Carrollton, Missouri.

Knights and Ladies of Dixie.-An organization which came into existence at Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1895, and which was designed to perpetuate the memory of soldiers of the Southern Confederacy, and to make provisions for the relief of the needy among their widows, orphans or dependents. It admits to membership both men and women, and has an attractive ritual and benefit features. The first lodge was organized in St. Louis in 1896, at 3700 Easton Avenue,

with fifty members. In 1897 its reported membership was more than one thousand.

Knights and Ladies of Honor.-A mutual benefit order, which was founded in the city of St. Louis on the 7th day of June, 1876, by the institution of Initial Lodge No. 1. It was founded by Thomas W. Seymour, afterward grand secretary of Missouri, who conceived the idea that women should be entitled to enjoy the social privileges and benefits of an order similar to the Knights of Honor, of which order he was then an active member. On the 6th of September, 1877, the Supreme Lodge of the order was organized at Louisville, Kentucky, by the representatives of the lodges which had by that time come into existence. From that time forward subordinate lodges multiplied, and in 1899 its total membership was represented in almost every State in the Union. The institution of lodges in the States of Louisiana and Florida is not sanctioned by the Supreme Lodge, on account of the danger of yellow fever and other epidemics recurring with frequency in those States. The Supreme Lodge, originally chartered by Kentucky in 1877, obtained a new charter from the State of Missouri in 1885, and was rechartered in Indiana in 1891. In the year 1900 there were in Missouri ninety-two lodges, with 6,200 members, there being seventy-one lodges in St. Louis, three in Kansas City, two in St. Joseph and one each in Joplin, Neosho, Rich Hill, De Soto, Moberly and Fenton.

Knights and Ladies of Industry. A mutual benefit association, organized in St. Louis in 1887, to which both men and women were admitted. It had at one time nineteen lodges and a membership of more than 1,200 in St. Louis, but never established any lodges or had any membership outside of that city. It flourished until 1896, when various causes depleted its membership to such an extent that its affairs were wound up and its existence terminated.

Knights of Father Mathew.-Originally a uniformed temperance society, organized in St. Louis in 1872. It numbered about one hundred young men of Roman Catholic religious affiliations, who were handsomely uniformed and became noted for their