1848-1904; bulk: 1861-1889
Guide to the Collection
Funding for the digitization of this collection and the creation of preservation microfilm was provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act grant as administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.
Representative digitized documents from this collection:
Restrictions on Access
Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below). Black and white microfilm is also available for use in the library.
Abstract
This collection consists of the papers of Frederick N. Knapp of Plymouth, Mass., clergyman, teacher, and superintendent of the Special Relief Department, U.S. Sanitary Commission, during the Civil War.
Biographical Sketches
Frederick Newman Knapp (1821-1889)
Frederick N. Knapp was born in Jamaica Plain, Mass. on 19 Nov. 1821, the son of Jacob Newman Knapp and Louisa (Bellows) Knapp. In 1822, the family moved to Walpole, N.H. Knapp graduated from Harvard in 1843 and Harvard Divinity School in 1847. He was a Unitarian minister in Brookline, Mass. from 1847-1855, but had to step down after he was badly injured in an omnibus accident. During the Civil War, he served as superintendent of the Special Relief Department, U.S. Sanitary Commission. The Commission was organized in 1861 to assist sick and wounded Union soldiers, and the Special Relief Department focused on helping soldiers return to civilian life and supporting disabled veterans and their families. After the war, Knapp preached in Yonkers, N.Y. and then in Plymouth, Mass. from 1869-1874. In 1867, he founded a Home School for Boys (first in Sutton, Mass., then Plymouth). He was also chairman of the Plymouth School Committee and an honorary member of the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1855, Knapp married Lucia Alden Bradford, and the couple had four children: Louisa Bellows Knapp, Frederick Bradford Knapp, Sarah Perkins Knapp, and Maria Bradford Knapp. He died on 12 Jan. 1889.
Henry Bromfield Rogers (1802-1887)
Henry B. Rogers was the son of Boston merchant Daniel Denison Rogers. He graduated from Harvard in 1822 and Litchfield (Conn.) Law School in 1823. He practiced law in Boston for a few years, then became a philanthropist, working with many charitable and educational organizations. During the Civil War, he served as a relief agent with the U.S. Sanitary Commission, helping sick and wounded Union soldiers. In 1832, Rogers married Anna Powell Mason Perkins, and they had one daughter, Annette Perkins Rogers.
Collection Description
This collection consists of the papers of Frederick N. Knapp of Plymouth, Mass., clergyman, teacher, and superintendent of the Special Relief Department, U.S. Sanitary Commission, during the Civil War. Included are personal and professional letters, as well as orders, vouchers, receipts, reports, and printed matter related to Knapp's work with the commission. The papers document general aid to soldiers, battlefield relief, burial of the dead, care of the dying, provisions for sick and wounded soldiers and prisoners, aid to discharged soldiers, work on transports and at hospitals, and many other subjects.
Among the correspondents are J. B. Abbott, John A. Anderson, George A. Blake, James Freeman Clarke, Thomas Hill, William A. Hovey, Frederick Law Olmstead, and many others, including soldiers and their families. Knapp family members represented include Knapp's wife Lucia (Bradford) Knapp, his brother Francis Bellows Knapp, his son Frederick Bradford Knapp, and his cousins Henry W. Bellows and Susan Newman Knapp. The collection also contains letters to Amy M. Bradley; Knapp's unpublished manuscript for his "History of the Special Relief Department"; miscellaneous notes and extracts on the work of the U.S. Sanitary Commission; and correspondence and diaries (1861-1864) of Henry B. Rogers, relief agent for the commission.
Correspondence in the 1870s and 1880s relates primarily to family matters and to Knapp's work as a teacher and founder of Mr. Knapp's Home School for Boys in Plymouth, Mass.
Arrangement
Oversize papers in this collection have been removed to an oversize folder (in drawers) but are digitized at their original location.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by purchase, 1964.
Restrictions on Access
Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below). Black and white microfilm is also available for use in the library.
Other Formats
The collection is also available as color digital facsimiles and on microfilm, P-801 (3 reels). See the Microfilm Reel List below.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Correspondence, etc., 1848-1889digital content
Arranged chronologically.
This series consists of the professional, personal, and family correspondence of Frederick N. Knapp; correspondence of Henry B. Rogers; orders, vouchers, receipts, reports, printed matter, and other papers related to the U.S. Sanitary Commission; and newspaper clippings. Among the correspondents are J. B. Abbott, John A. Anderson, George A. Blake, John S. Blatchford, Emma J. Brintzinghoffer, John B. Burns, James Freeman Clarke, G. R. Davis, Darius Forbes, Elisha Harris, William A. Hovey, Julia McCarthy, Edward B. Northrop, Frederick Law Olmstead, Louise A. Webster, and many others, including soldiers and their families.
Knapp family members represented in this series include Knapp's wife Lucia (Bradford) Knapp, his brother Francis Bellows Knapp, his son Frederick Bradford Knapp, and his cousin Henry W. Bellows. The series also contains letters to "the soldiers' friend," Miss Amy M. Bradley; letters to Knapp's cousin Susan Newman Knapp; and correspondence between Knapp and Thomas Hill, his Harvard classmate and president of Harvard.
1848, 1853
Jan.-Oct. 1861
Nov. 1861
Dec. 1861
1861
Jan. 1862
Feb. 1862
Mar. 1862
Apr. 1862
May 1862
June 1862
July-Sep. 1862
Oct.-Nov. 1862
Dec. 1862
1862
Jan. 1863
Feb.-Mar. 1863
Apr. 1863
May 1863
June-Sep. 1863
Aug.-Dec. 1863
1863
Jan.-Apr. 1864
May-July 1864
1-19 Aug. 1864
20-31 Aug. 1864
Sep. 1864
1-20 Oct. 1864
21-24 Oct. 1864
25-31 Oct. 1864
1-13 Nov. 1864
14-30 Nov. 1864
Dec. 1864
1864
Jan. 1865
Feb. 1865
Mar. 1865
Apr. 1865
May-July 1865
Sep.-Dec. 1865
Jan.-May 1866
June-Sep. 1866
Oct.-Dec. 1866
1866
Jan.-June 1867
July-Dec. 1867
1867
Jan.-July 1868
Aug.-Dec. 1868
Jan.-Apr. 1869
May-July 1869
Aug. 1869
Sep.-Dec. 1869
Correspondence, 1860s
Notes, memoranda, etc., 1860s
1870-1871
Jan.-Feb. 1872
Mar. 1872
Apr.-Dec. 1872
1874
1875-1876
1877-1879
1870s
1882-1886
1887
1888-1889
Miscellaneous undated papers
II. History of the Special Relief Department, U.S. Sanitary Commission, [1865-1867]digital content
This series contains Frederick N. Knapp's unpublished manuscript on the work of the Special Relief Department, U.S. Sanitary Commission. The manuscript consists of draft pages describing various aspects of the Commission, including edits and annotations. Some portions are written in other hands, including J. B. Abbott's.
Notes on chapters, pages, etc.
"Concerning the records and system of the Special Relief Office"
"Statement concerning the work of the Special Relief Office"
"Miscellaneous work that was added & 'side issues'"
"Work which we tried to make the Govt. do, &c. &c."
"Special Relief"
"Kinds of work of the Special Relief Desk in November 1862"
"Blocks in our wheels and 'Bothers'"
"Our relations with different Officers of the Govt."
"Statistics"
"Means of assisting"
"Sanitaria"
"Mostly Extracts on Hosp. Transports"
"Ahead of Time"
"Special Relief work at Convalescent Camp near Alexandria, Va."
"Prisoners"
"Letter service"
"Hospital visitors at the West"
"Reduced fare tickets"
"Burial of dead"
"Pension Agency"
Wives' and mothers' claims
Disabled soldiers, veterans
"Letters of Gratitude, &c."
Extracts of letters from the field
"Incidents of Hosp. Directing, Louisville, Kentucky"
"Flying Relief"
"Belle Plain"
"Relief work at Fredericksburg May 1864"
"Gettysburg"
North Carolina, South Carolina
"Winchester, Va."
"Ware Fund"
III. Notes and extracts, 1864-1904digital content
This series includes notes by Lucia (Bradford) Knapp on the life and work of her husband Frederick N. Knapp; unidentified miscellaneous notes on Civil War hospitals; and an undated manuscript containing copies of correspondence, extracts of reports, and other material related to Dr. George A. Blake and the work of the U.S. Sanitary Commission in Louisiana, Texas, and Alabama, 1862-1865. The manuscript is in Blake's handwriting, and a cover sheet includes the note: "Part used by Mr. Knapp."
Lucia Knapp's notes on Frederick N. Knapp, Part 1, ca. 1904
Lucia Knapp's notes on Frederick N. Knapp, Part 2, ca. 1904
Lucia Knapp's notes on Frederick N. Knapp, Part 3, ca. 1904
Lucia Knapp's notes on Frederick N. Knapp, Part 4, ca. 1904
Lucia Knapp's notes on Frederick N. Knapp, Part 5, ca. 1904
Lucia Knapp's notes on Frederick N. Knapp, Part 6, ca. 1904
Lucia Knapp's notes on Frederick N. Knapp, Part 7, ca. 1904
Miscellaneous notes, [1864-1865]
Notes and extracts on Dr. George A. Blake and the U.S. Sanitary Commission, undated
IV. Henry B. Rogers diaries, 1861-1864digital content
This series consists of the Civil War diaries of Henry Bromfield Rogers, agent for the U.S. Sanitary Commission, documenting his work distributing supplies and providing assistance to soldiers. Included are observations of the sick and dying, names of wounded and discharged men, and descriptions of camp life and daily activities. The two draft volumes contain notes Rogers used to write fuller entries in the diaries.
Diary, 21 Nov. 1861-7 Jan. 1862
Diary, 8 Jan.-26 Apr. 1862
Diary, 26 Apr.-31 May 1862
Diary, 6 June-5 July 1862
Diary, 7-9 Apr. 1863, 15-16 Jan. 1864
Draft volume, 25 Nov. 1861-25 Jan. 1862
Draft volume, 31 Jan.-30 June 1862
V. Oversize papers
NOTE: Oversize papers from Series I-IV have been removed to an oversize folder (in drawers) but are digitized at their original location.
Microfilm Reel List
Papers, 1848-1863
Papers, 1864-1872
Papers, 1874-1889, undated
Frederick N. Knapp’s manuscript history of the Special Relief Department, U.S. Sanitary Commission
Special Relief Office, Memorandum of the Disbursement of the Ware Fund
Mrs. Knapp's notes on Frederick N. Knapp
Misc. notes and extracts
Henry Bromfield Rogers diary, 1861-1864
Preferred Citation
Frederick Newman Knapp papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.