When Abraham Knapp was born on 30 October 1819, in Ripley, Chautauqua, New York, United States, his father, Robert Knapp, was 52 and his mother, Betsy Perry, was 23. He married Lydia Donaldson in 1840, in Venango Township, Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Greene Township, Erie, Pennsylvania, United States in 1850. He died on 30 August 1865, in Venango Township, Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, at the age of 45, and was buried in Phillipsville, Venango Township, Erie, Pennsylvania, United States.
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The Missouri Compromise helped provide the entrance of Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state into the United States. As part of the compromise, slavery was prohibited north of the 36°30′ parallel, excluding Missouri.
During the years 1799 to 1827, New York went through a period of gradual emancipation. A Gradual Emancipation Law was passed in 1799 which freed slave children born after July 4, 1799. However, they were indentured until 25 years old for women and 28 years old for men. A law passed 1817 which freed slaves born before 1799, yet delayed their emancipation for ten years. All remaining slaves were freed in New York State on July 4, 1827.
Convinced that a group of Native American tribes were hostile, The United States formed a frontier militia to stop them in their tracks. Even though Black Hawk was hoping to avoid bloodshed while trying to resettle on tribal land, U.S. officials opened fire on the Native Americans. Black Hawk then responded to this confrontation by successfully attacking the militia at the Battle of Stillman's Run and then left northward. After a few months the militia caught up with Black Hawk and his men and defeated them at the Battle of Wisconsin Heights. While being weakened by hunger, injuries and desertion, Black Hawk and the rest of the many native survivors retreated towards the Mississippi. Unfortunately, Black Hawk and other leaders were later captured when they surrendered to the US forces and were then imprisoned for a year.
German: occupational or status name from the German word Knapp(e), a variant of Knabe ‘young unmarried man’. In the 15th century this spelling acquired the separate, specialized meanings ‘servant, apprentice’, and ‘miner’. This surname is also found elsewhere in central Europe, e.g. in Czechia and Slovakia, where it is more commonly spelled Knap (compare 3 below).
German: in Franconia, a nickname for a dexterous or skillful person, of the same ultimate origin as 1 above.
Germanized or Americanized form of Polish, Czech, Slovak, Rusyn, and Slovenian Knap , a surname of ultimately German origin (see 1 above).
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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