Re: Looking for trivia abt Timothy Knapp (Israel, Timothy, Joshua, Nicholas)
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In reply to:
Re: Looking for trivia abt Timothy Knapp (Israel, Timothy, Joshua, Nicholas)
CHARLES KNAPP 9/13/04
Thanks!I was hoping for different Timothy, there may have been 4 or five in Greenwich.However, what you sent is information on my Knapps.Which had also wanted.I had read much of this in the 1980s when I lived in Stamford.At that time, I was under the Illusion "my" Tim came from England.Tim's daughter Mary did not want to pass on the embarrassment of her father to her descendents, so she lied about him.I knew I was looking for a Tory named Timothy Knapp of Greenwich.I suspected my Timothy’s Tory actions may have been attributed to an innocent Timothy Knapp.Therefore, I just read the material without copying most of what I found.20 years later the nuances of all the different stories are valuable.For a few years I have been trying to get some archivist to go though a local library to retrieve just what you have posted.You have included some information I did not read and would not have been interested at that time.Every thing you sent was of great interest to me.I bet you posted about 70% of everything published on those Knapps.I have copies of about 20% more.I am guessing there is probably another 10% still out there.The beauty of looking at so many different versions of the same persons and events is you can piece together what may have happened.
For the record I will post what I think really happened.There were 3 Israels and 2 Timothys at Knapp’s Tavern.Before 1777 Timothy Sr the eldest son by maybe 20 years ran the Tavern for his ailing dad Israel Sr.Something real bad happened.As a result, Tim Sr. was disinherited.He lost the Tavern; he lost his farm “West forty” given to him by his dad Israel Sr., part of the original Knapp land in Greenwich.He was left use of the farm in the West Forty until he and his wife died and $5.His sisters each got $25 and a good deal of valuables.$5 was basically an insult and possibly to prevent any contestment of the will.In 1777 Tim Jr was shot by Titus Mead.He was probably a “cowboy” along with his other brothers.It is quite possible it was just that the Knapps were cowboys might have been the terrible secret.The fact that Mary’s family would steal from their neighbors might be the too terrible to tell secret.I am still looking for another more terrible scenario.Family legend about the Knapp shooting misnames both parties.The interesting incorrect name was that of Col. Delancy.A Col. James Delancey delivered a reign of terror on Greenwich in the summer and fall of 1777.Only after 6 months James was promoted and left the region.He so impressed the people of Greenwich that when Emmerich Chasseurs attacked Greenwich years after James was hundreds of miles away they still called the cowboys “Delancey’s troops”.It is likely the bulk of the Emmerich Chasseurs came from the Westchester Chasseurs since both were elite light infantry and Delancey had already picked the best rides from Westchester the later group was larger.Anyway, there is another story about a Col. Delancy lynching a Yankee cowboy named Timothy Knapp.I am trying to get a detailed account of this.Delancy was only active for a few months in the Greenwich area.It is a great concidance that Delancy's name is linked with the shooting that probably occured the few months Delancy was on his rampage. If Tim was not caught red-handed some one would have had to be an informant.That could easily have been Tim Sr. the most infamous Tory in Greenwich.The tavern was rumored to have been the meeting place of a Tory spy ring.In retrospect he now know it was a Masonic meeting place but back then it might have been mistaken for a meeting of spies.On the other hand, what if this fool Timothy Knapp boasted that he was a Yankee cowboy after having too much to drink. A day or two later Delancey hunts down the man and lynches him.I believe Timothy is only a family name in the Nick Knapp line.That means the victim would have been kin to Timothy.This would have been a too horrible to tell story.When Titus Mead hears of this he will not let his daughter marry into a family like that which precipitates the shooting.Tim Jr is so disliked by the Knapp family that thet will not bury him.We will assume Tim Sr is in prison or is hiding for his life.Titus Mead stated the Knapp sons had to flee from Greenwich and the Mesnard documentation supports this.Timothy spends most of the war in Simsbury mine.When he gets out of prison only “his” farm remains all the rest had been taken by Yankee cowboys etc.The farm is not destroyed because it is not Timothy’s but his father’s Col Israel Knapp a well respected Yankee officer.He dies shortly after the war a completely broken man.
Israel gets branded a Tory in some of your excerpts.That is because legally only an Israel Knapp ran the tavern.Israel Sr. never signed papers for the tavern or the farm.This allowed him to take away all Tim’s wealth in the blink of an eye!Both Israels were Yankee soldiers so they could not have been Tories.
Thanks again