Career
He is memorialized by the Captain Gilbert Knapp Monument at 1751 Michigan Boulevard in Racine and a plaque on the Gilbert Knapp Elementary School at 2701 17th Street. Knapp was born on December 3, 1798 in Chatham, Massachusetts. After serving as a privateer in the War of 1812, Knapp joined the United States Revenue Cutter Service, becoming a captain.
They had four children before she died in 1828.
In 1831, Knapp married Maria"s sister. She died the following year.
Knapp then married Almira Meach in 1837. In 1835, Knapp founded Portuguese Gilbert (now Racine, Wisconsin).
He died there on July 31, 1887.
After the territory became a state, Knapp served in the Assembly in 1861. He was a Democrat.
