Chauncey Langdon Knapp (February 26, 1809 – May 31, 1898) was an American newspaperman and politician who served two terms as a
U.S. Representative
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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from
from 1855 to 1859.
Biography
Chauncey Langdon Knapp was born in
Berlin, Vermont
Berlin ( ) is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States, founded in 1763.
The population was 2,849 at the 2020 census. Being the town between Barre and Montpelier, the two largest cities in the region, much of the commercial business ...
, February 26, 1809. He was trained as a printer, and became a newspaperman in
Montpelier. For a number of years, he was co-proprietor and editor of the ''State Journal'', Vermont's main
Anti-Masonic Party
The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest third party in the United States. Formally a single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry, but later aspired to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. Afte ...
newspaper. Interested in politics, he served as
Secretary of State of Vermont
The secretary of state of Vermont is one of five cabinet-level constitutional officers in the U.S. state of Vermont which are elected every two years. The secretary of state is fourth (behind the lieutenant governor, speaker of the House of Repres ...
from 1836 to 1843.
Career
In 1843, he visited
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, It is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,5 ...
, and met poet
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet R ...
, at the time editor of Lowell's ''Middlesex Standard'' (the voice of the Anti-slavery Movement and the
Liberty Party). Whittier invited Knapp to stay in Lowell, take over as editor, and continue the fight against slavery and for social reform in Lowell. Knapp accepted and he eventually moved from editor of the ''Middlesex Standard'' to editor of the ''Lowell Citizen and News''. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Liberty Party candidate in 1846 and as a member of the
Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery i ...
in 1848. Knapp was appointed Clerk of the
Massachusetts State Senate
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...
in 1851.
Congress
In 1854, Knapp ran as an anti-slavery candidate and was elected to 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...
. He was identified with the
American Party (the only major party with an anti-slavery plank) while serving in the
Thirty-fourth Congress.
When the
Republican Party was formed with an anti-slavery plank, Knapp joined it. He was again overwhelmingly elected to the
Thirty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859).
During the heated slavery debates in Congress, Senator
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...
of Massachusetts was severely beaten by Congressman
Preston Brooks
Preston Smith Brooks (August 5, 1819 – January 27, 1857) was an American politician and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving from 1853 until his resignation in July 1856 and again from August 1856 until his ...
of South Carolina on May 22, 1856. In response, Congressmen Knapp delivered his first address on the floor of the House, a speech in which he said his constituents viewed the attack as an "audacious blow hurled at the great right of free opinion. . .the primal element and safeguard of constitutional liberty."
[''Appendix to the Congressional Globe'', 34th Congress, 1st sess., Washington: John C. Rives, 1856, p. 910, July 12, 1856]
Later career
In 1859, Knapp left Congress and became editor of the ''Lowell Daily Citizen'' from 1859-1882.
Death and burial
He died in Lowell on May 31, 1898, and is buried in the Lowell Cemetery.
Knapp Avenue leading from Rogers Street into the
Lowell Cemetery
Lowell Cemetery is a cemetery located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Founded in 1841 and located on the banks of the Concord River, the cemetery is one of the oldest garden cemeteries in the nation, inspired by Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, M ...
is named for him.
References
External links
*
Chauncey Langdon Knappa
''The Political Graveyard''*Vermont Historical Society
Vermonters in Congress 1921, pages 120-121
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Chauncey Langdon
1809 births
1898 deaths
19th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
People from Berlin, Vermont
Politicians from Lowell, Massachusetts
Anti-Masonic Party politicians from Vermont
Secretaries of State of Vermont
Massachusetts Free Soilers
Massachusetts Libertyites
Know-Nothing members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts
19th-century American politicians