Samuel Lorenzo Knapp (19 January 1783 in

Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes p ...

– 8 July 1838 in

Hopkinton, Massachusetts Hopkinton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, west of Boston. The town is best known as the starting point of the Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriots' Day each April, and as the he ...

) was an American

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

Biography

He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1804, studied law with Chief Justice

Theophilus Parsons Theophilus Parsons (February 24, 1750October 30, 1813) was an American jurist based in Massachusetts. Biography Born in Newbury, Massachusetts, to a clergyman father, Parsons was one of the early students at the Dummer Academy (now The Governo ...

, and became an eminent lawyer. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, he commanded a regiment of militia on the coast defences. He was a representative in the

Massachusetts legislature The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. The name "General Court" is a holdover from the earliest days o ...

from 1812 to 1816. Knapp was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1814. In 1816, he was imprisoned for debt, upon his release from prison in 1817, he moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He became editor of the ''

Boston Gazette The ''Boston Gazette'' (1719–1798) was a newspaper published in Boston, in the British North American colonies. It was a weekly newspaper established by William Brooker, who was just appointed Postmaster of Boston, with its first issue releas ...

'' in 1824, also conducting the '' Boston Monthly Magazine''. In 1826 he established the ''National Republican'', which failed two years later, and he returned to practicing law in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He was given the degree of LL.D. from the Paris College.

Works

His works, which are chiefly biographical, include: *"Ali Bey," ''Extracts of a Journal of Travels in North America, consisting of an account of Boston and its vicinity'' (Boston, 1818). A burlesque imitation of ''Travels of Ali Bey in Morocco...'' (Ali Bey in this second work being a pseudonym for Domingo Badia y Leblich; 2 vols., Philadelphia, 1816); Knapp's 1818 work purports to give an oriental traveler's experiences of society in

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. *''Biographical Sketches of Eminent Lawyers, Statesmen, and Men of Letters'' (1821) *''Memoirs of Gen. Lafayette'' (1824) *''The Genius of

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

'' (Providence, 1828) *''Discourse on the Life and Character of

De Witt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and Naturalism (philosophy), naturalist. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the sixth governor of New York. ...

'' (1828) *''Lectures on American Literature'' (New York, 1829) *"Ignatius Loyola Robertson," ''Sketches of Public Characters'' (1830) *''American Biography'' (1833) *''Narrative of a Voyage to the Ethiopic and South Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Chinese Sea, North and South Pacific Oceans, in the Years 1829, 1830, 1831'' was published in New York in 1833 by J. & J. Harper. Ghost-written by Knapp it re-told the experience of merchant's wife and explorer

Abby Jane Morrell Abby Jane Morrell (born February 17, 1809; date of death unknown) was an American writer who produced the first description of sub-Antarctic travel from a woman's perspective. Biography Morrell was born Abbey Jane Wood in New York on February ...

. *''History of the United States'', a revised edition of a work by John Hinton (1834) *''Life of Thomas Eddy'' (1834
at Google Books
*''Female biography containing notices of distinguished women in different ages and nations'' (New York, 1834
at Google Books
*''Advice in the Pursuit of Literature'' (1835) *''Memoir of the Life of

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

'' (1835) *''Life of

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...

'' (1835) *''Life of

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

'' (1835) *''The Bachelor, and Other Tales'' (1836) *''Life of Timothy Dexter'' (1838
at archive.org
(1858 edition) He edited "The Library of American History" (New York, 1837). He was the author of a variety of occasional public addresses. George Harvey Genzmer, in evaluating his biographies in the ''

Dictionary of American Biography The ''Dictionary of American Biography'' (DAB) was a multi-volume dictionary published in New York City by Charles Scribner's Sons under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). History The dictionary was first propo ...

'', calls him "ornate, laudatory, and patriotic, and wholly untrustworthy."

Notes

References

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External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Samuel Lorenzo 1783 births 1838 deaths American biographers American male non-fiction writers Dartmouth College alumni People from Newburyport, Massachusetts Lawyers from New York City American militiamen in the War of 1812 Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court