Background
He was born in Keokuk, Iowa on September 1, 1860 to William W. Belknap.
United States representative politician
He was born in Keokuk, Iowa on September 1, 1860 to William W. Belknap.
Belknap attended the public schools, Adams Academy in Quincy, Massachusetts, and Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.
At the age of eighteen he entered the service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company and worked in various capacities until he retired in 1892 to become superintendent of the South Side Rapid Transit Railroad of Chicago, Illinois. He successfully contested as a Republican the election of Lawrence East. McGann to the Fifty-fourth Congress. He was reelected to the Fifty-fifth Congress and served from December 27, 1895, to March 3, 1899.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1898 to the Fifty-sixth Congress.
He resided in Chicago until 1901. In March 1899. Belknap was appointed a Volunteer Paymaster in the United States. Army.
Two years later he was appointed a major in the regular Army. He started on his first pay trip within two weeks after arriving in Manila.
His first stop was at Calamba (on the island of Laguna), where he became ill and required surgery.
Upon Major Halford’s arrival, Belknap told him: “Major, I have two requests to make. And I want you to pray for medical ” Belknap died the next day, November 12, 1901, from intestinal problems. He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery.