OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (KiMBALL KNOX.) 



.', 1892. He received an academic education in 

 town, I). ('., was admitted to tin; Imr in I'tica 

 in I MO, becoming a partner of hi* preceptor, Joshua 

 neer: was reporter of the Court or Appeals of 

 rk in IS.M '67, member of the Legiuaton in 

 '.c.-ted member of Congress in 18U2, defeating 

 Conkling, liis Republican opponent ; was de- 

 feat--! liy Mr. Conkling when candidate for re-elec- 

 tion in 18U4, and was a nieinhcr of the State Consti- 

 tutional Convention in 1857, where, though a member 

 of the Roman Catholic Church, he advocated the pol- 

 ic\ of excluding sectarian schools from State aid. In 

 1*72 lie was defeated as Democratic candidate for 

 nor of New York by Gen. John A. Dix, and in 

 .I-inuary, 1875, he was elected United States Senator 

 .Hi Reuben E. Fenton, being the only Demo- 

 crat so honored in New York State from 1848 till 

 is'.'l. lie was (let'eate.l for re-election by Thomas C. 

 i'latt. Mr. Keinan wits a regent of the University of 

 the State of New York from 1870 till his death, and 

 showed his great interest in the public-school system 

 by serving tor more than twenty years as a school 

 commissioner in Utiea. 



Kimball, Richard Burleigh, author, born in Lebanon, 

 X. II., Oct. 11, IM'i: died iii New York city, Dec. 

 28, 1892. When eleven years old he passed the exam 

 inatioii for admission to Dartmouth College, but the 

 authorities refused to 

 receive him then on 

 account of his youth. 

 He was graduated there 

 in 1834, was admitted 

 to the bar in Waterford, 

 N. Y., in 1836, and after 

 further study in Paris 

 began to practice in 

 Waterford. Thence he 

 removed to Troy, and 

 soon afterward to New 

 York city, where for a 

 time he practiced with 

 his brother's law lirm, 

 and then engaged in 

 practice by himself till 

 about 1877. when he 

 retired, and applied 



himself wholly to literature. He founded the town 

 of Kimball, Texas, built part of the first railroad 

 constructed in that State, running from Galveston 

 to Houston, and was its president in 1854-'<iO, re- 

 tiring at the beginning of the civil war. For many 

 \ears d,. made a practice of crossing the ocean an- 

 nually. His publications included : " St. Leger ; or, The 

 Threads of Life," a metaphysical novel, which was 

 translated into various foreign languages (1850); 

 "Cuba and the Cubans" (1850); "Romance of Stu- 

 dent Life Abroad" (1852): "Undercurrents of Wall 

 Street." (1861); "Was she successful?" (1863)- 

 "Henry Powers, Banker" (1868); and "Stories of 

 Exceptional Life" (1887). At the time of his death 

 he had completed " Half a Century of Recollections," 

 in which he wrote of the personal characteristics of 

 many of the eminent people with whom lie had been 

 acimaintcd. 



Knapp, Manning M., jurist, born in Newton, N. .1.. 

 in Isii:'. ; died in Jersey City, N. J., Jan. 20, ls<2. He 

 was admitted to the bar in 1846, removed to Hacken- 

 sack to practice the same year, was made a counsel 

 or in ls.">(i, was appointed prosecutor of the pleas to 

 till a vacancy in the latter year, and held the office 

 b\ reappointmenti till 1861. In 1875, when Judge 

 Bcdlc was eld-ted Governor, he appointed Mr. Knapp 

 to fill the vacancy on the bupremc Court bench oc- 

 casioned by his own election; and Judge Knapp was 

 reappointed by Gov. Ludlow in 1882, and by c,\. 

 tin-en in 1889. On his tirst appointment he was as- 

 signed by his associates to the Hudson County cir- 

 As a judge he was noted for his independence 

 and liis aggressive opposition to criminals. For sev- 

 eral voars lie had demanded of successive grand ju- 

 ries that they should investigate the frauds perpetrated 



by what was known a* the " Hudson County King." 

 llV became indignant that the grand jurors paid little 

 or no attention to his charges, and the failure of the 

 one in session at the time of hi- death |., indict a no- 

 torious dive keeper in llol>okcn aroused hi* indigna- 

 tion to the highest pitch. On the day of his death, 

 as the grand jurors were ranged In-fore him in the 

 court room, he denounced them in severe language 

 for their refusal to take cognizance of the proof- in 

 that particular case. While delivering this charge he 

 was suddenly sei/ed with apoplexy, fell back in his 

 chair unconscious, and died within a few minutes. 

 Judge Knapp was an exj>ert on lenses for astronom- 

 ical instruments, and in his own study of astronomy 

 had from early life been in the habit of making his 

 own lenses, through failure to find any that suited 

 him. At his home in Hackcnsack lie had a work- 

 shop, where he found relaxation from judicial worry 

 in making lenses. He frequently presented them to 

 scientific societies, but never would sell any. 



Knight, Edward Ceilings, manufacturer, born in 

 Gloucester, N. J., Dec. 8, 1813 ; died in Cape May, N. J., 

 July 21, 1892. He was of Quaker descent, served 

 five years as a clerk in a country store, established 

 himself in the grocery business in Philadelphia hi 

 1836j and had carried on a wholesale grocery, com- 

 mission, importing, and sugar-refining business since 

 1846. He was the pioneer in importing molasses and 

 sugar from Cuba, and his refineries had a capacity of 

 from 1,000 to 1,500 barrels of sugar a day. Mr. 

 Knight was a director of the Pennsylvania Railroad 

 < 'ompany, President of the American Steamship Line, 

 in 1876-'80 President of the Central Railroad Com- 

 pany of New Jersey, and at the time of his death 

 V ice-President of the Guarantee Safe-Deposit Com- 

 pany of Philadelphia. In 1856 he was an unsuc- 

 cessful candidate for Congress from the old 1st 

 District of Pennsylvania on the American Whig and 

 Reform ticket, and in 1860 he was a Republican presi- 

 dential elector. Mr. Knight was credited with being 

 the originator of the modern sleeping car, having de- 

 signed what is believed to have been the first sleep- 

 ing car ever built in the world. He organized a com- 

 pany to build such cars from his designs, but after- 

 ward sold all the rights to the Pullman company. 



Knox, John Jay, nnancier,born in Knoxbprough,Onei- 

 da County, N. Y., March 19,1828; died in New York 

 city, Feb. 9, 1892. Ho was graduated at Hamilton 

 college in 1849, began his business career as a clerk 

 in the bank at Vernon, N. Y., in 1849, and remained 

 in financial business till his death. He came into 

 prominence as a financier in the discussions that pre- 

 ceded the establishment of the national banking sys- 

 tem, and particularly by an article that he wrote for 

 " Hunt's Merchants' Magazine " in January, 1862, in 

 which he advocated the passage by Congress of an 

 act similar to the present national banking law. This 

 article attracted the attention of Secretary Chase and 

 Comptroller McColloch, and led to close advisory rela- 

 tions between the three. In 1866 he was sent by the 

 Treasury Department to San Francisco to examine 

 the branch mint in that city, and his report contained 

 so many valuable suggestions that the Secretary of 

 the Treasury deemed it advisable to report it in full to 

 Congress as a part of the official rc|K>rts. He was next 

 commissioned to go to New Orleans, where lie made 

 a special report on a lanre deficiency in the accounts 

 of the assistant treasury there, and wnere he remained 

 for some time, acting as assistant Treasurer of the 

 United States. In IM'.I; he was placed in charge of 

 the mint and coinage OOrrevpoadonM in the Treasury 

 Department at Washington ; in l-'-7 he was appointed 

 deputy comptroller of the currency ; in lt<70 he made 

 an elaborate report to Congress, including a codifica- 

 tion of the mint and coma-re laws, with Important 

 amendment* ; and in l s 7-"> he prepared a bill, which 

 ua- pulsed with a few modifications, under the title of 

 "the Coinage act of ls'73." His terms of office in 

 the Treasury Department were 1867-T-'. deputy 

 comptroller; 1872 '77. comptroller, by appointment 

 by President Grant; lK77-'82, comptroller, by ap- 



