William e CARVEY

                   Church of the Latter Day Saints records her name as Eneil Knapp; Batch no
M001317
KNAPP. The name Knapp is Teutonic in origin, and is more numerously
prevalent in German than in the British Isles. The German surname is
derived from the work Knappe, meaning an esquire or body servant to a
knight or noble. The English Saxon word Cnapa, which has a meaning
corresponding to the GermanKnappe, or from Cneap, meaning a hill, which
in the forms of Knap, Knop, Knob, Nap, etc. occurs as a place name in
midland and southern England. There aremany variations in the spelling
of the name, some families not adhering to any particular form, while
others have been quite persistent in so doing, evenwhen more liberty in
that matter was practiced than now.
The earliest mention of the name in England was in the Rotuli Curiae
Regis , and occurs in thefollowing passage: "Anno Regis Ricardi Ix: Xv
die (i. e. 1198) Petrus Knape". From that time down it occurs frequently
in English records. It is known inSuffolk, and Norfolk counties, and
there is some evidence, though it is notconclusive, that some of the
Knapps in America came from the former county. In the visitation of
Suffolk of 1577 the coat-of-arms of the Knapp family is thus described:
"Or, in chief, three close helmets, sable; in base a lion passant, of the
last. Crest: An arm embowed proper, garnished or, the hand of thefirst
grasping by the blade a broken sword, argent; hilt and pommel of the
second, with a branch of laurel vert. Motto: Spes Nostra Deus ."
Among the immigrants who are supposed to have come over with Sir Richard
Saltonstall in1630, were two men, perhaps brothers, named Nicholas and
William Knapp, who with others became the first settlers of Watertown,
Massachusetts. The children of Nicholas removed to Connecticut and are
the ancestors of the Knapps of that state, of western Massachusetts, of
New York, and of states farther west.William, who remained in Watertown,
is the ancestor of those of the name incentral and eastern
Massachusetts, except the south-eastern portion, where they are from
Aaron (possibly a third brother), who was one of the early settlers of
Taunton. The Knapps of New Hampshire and Maine are also descended from
William.
(I) Nicholas Knapp, the first American ancestor of the family of the
Knapps here dealt with, was born probably in Bury St. Mary's England, and
died in Stamford, Connecticut, April 16, 1670. Savage and Bonds' "History
of Watertown, Massachusetts", says he came in Winthrop and Saltonstall's
fleetin 1630, which landed in Boston Bay on March 1, 1630. He is
mentioned as living in Watertown, Massachusetts, where he lived until
1646, when by deed acknowledged May 6, of that year he sold to Byron
Pendleton all
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his land except one acre called by him his pond meadow, which he sold the
year before to Edward Garfield, dated September 29, 1645. He moved to
Stamford, Connecticut, for in the year 1649 he owned land in that place,
as appears from theland record, where also appears records of late date.
We find his will datedFebruary 15, 1670; it is to be found in the
probate records in Fairfield, Connecticut. He married, at Watertown,
Massachusetts, in 1630, Eleanor ---------, born in England probably, died
June 16, 1658, at Stamford, Connecticut; and (second) March 9, 1659, at
Stamford, Connecticut, Unity, daughter of Clement Buxton, and widow of
Peter Brown. Children (by first marriage) 1. Jonathan,born 1631, at
Watertown, Massachusetts, died December 27, 1637. 2. Timothy,born
December 14, 1632, married Bertha Brandish, of Weathersfield,
Connecticut, born 1637, settled in Rye, Connecticut. 3. Joshua, born June
5, 1635; married Hannah Close, who afterwards married John Bowers,
Joshua, dying in 1684, at Greenwich, Connecticut, whither he moved in
1663, and where he was admitted freeman in 1669. 4. Caleb, mentioned
below.