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Subject: [GM-L] KNAPP - Watertown. Seems the Witch of Groton was Wm. Knapp's dau !
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2002 19:48:49 EDT

Subject: KNAPP
Source: Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of
Watertown,
Massachusetts, Includes Waltham and Weston - by Henry Bond, M.D. Boston, 1860.

p.327

There were two very early settlers of Watertown of the name Knapp, viz.,
Nicholas and
William.

Nicholas Knapp, proprietor 1636-7; by wife Elinor had:

1. Jonathan Knapp, buried Dec. 27, 1631.

2. Timothy Knapp, b. Dec. 14, 1632.

3. Joshua Knapp, b. Jan 5, 1634/5.

4. Caleb Knapp, b. Jan 20, 1636/7.

5. Sarah Knapp, b. Jan 5, 1638/9.

6. Ruth Knapp, b. Jan 6, 1640/1.

7. Hannah Knapp, b. Mar 6, 1643/4.

By deed, acknowledged May 6, 1646, he sold to Bryan Pendleton, all his land
granted to him
by the town, except one acre of Pond meadow, sold Sept. 29, 1645 to E.
Garfield.
______________________________

William Knapp, a carpenter, proprietor 1636/7; probably came over in 1630,
with Nicholas
Knapp. He died Aug 30, 1658, aged about 80. His Will, dated 1655, mentions
no wife, but
in the settlement of his estate, his widow Priscilla received one-third of
it, besides a
debt due to her for a sum loaned to him before marriage, "by widow Priscilla
Akers", q.v.
Most of his estate passed from possession of his heirs to that of Nathaniel
Coolidge. His
heirs were sons, William, John, James; daughters: Mary Smith, Judith Cady;
the children of
daughter Anne (wife of Thomas Philbrick), all of Watertown, and daughter
*Elizabeth Buttery
a widow of Bury St. Mary, Suffolk, England. *probably the Witch of Groton
(see below)

Children of William Knapp:

p.328

1. William Knapp, Jr. died Sept 25, 1676; Inventory, £25; by wife Mary, had:
1. Priscilla Knapp b. Nov 10, 1642.
By his 2nd wife, Margaret he had:
2. Judy Knapp b. Mar 2, 1652/3.
3. Elizabeth Knapp b. July 23, 1657.
His son, Joseph Knapp was apprenticed to John Flemming, malster, Mar. 6,
1655/6;
after the death of John Flemming, to John Barnard.

2. John Knapp b. 1624; a carpenter; admitted freeman 1652; m. May 25, 1660,
Sarah Young.
Aug. 18, 1675, made administrator of brother-in-law Henry Young. His Will
dated Jan.
22, 1695/6, proved April 27, 1696, mention wife Sarah and children: Henry,
Isaac, John,
Daniel and Abigail. Inventory £65. 15s. April 21, 1666, he sold several
lots of land
to John Fiske. The county records show that he often bought and sold
land. Children:

1. John Knapp Jr. b. May 4, 1661; of Newton; m. Aug 4, 1686, Sarah
Parks. He
died 1773 and she d. 1727. Children:
1. John Knapp 3d b. Dec 11, 1688; of Newton; d. 1730;
m. July 13,
1715 (1) Mary Whitney of Watertown and he m. (2)
Sarah ____,
who died 1736. Children:
1. David. 2. Josiah b. 1723. 3. Jesse. 4.
Bathsheba.
5. Martha. 6. Lydia.
2. James Knapp, b. Feb 4, 1690/1; m. April 2, 1714,
Elizabeth Bond
She d. Jan 12, 1715/16, leaving a son Jonathan
Knapp, b. Oct 23,
1714. He m. (2) Oct 10, 1716, Mary Fiske.
Children:
James, bap Nov 24, 1723; Elizabeth b. May 15, 1729.
John b. Oct
31, 1731.
2. Sarah Knapp b. Sept 5, 1662.

3. James Knapp b. 1627; admitted freeman 1652; m. Elizabeth Warren.
Children:

1. Elizabeth Knapp b. April 21, 1655.
2. James Knapp b. May 26, died Sept 26, 1657.

4. Mary Knapp m. Thomas Smith of Watertown.

5. Judith Knapp m. Nicholas Cady of Watertown. Eight Children. See Cady File.

6. Anne Knapp m. Thomas Philbrick (?John). She died before her father,
leaving children.

7. Elizabeth Knapp; m. ____ Buttery. June 24, 1662 she, a widow of Bury St.
Mary, Co.,
Suffolk, England, by her Attorney, Thomas Danforth, sold to Nathaniel
Coolidge, her share,
one-eighth, of her father's estate for £12. 11s.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~
p.328 cont'd
Thomas Knapp of Sudbury and Mary Grout married in Watertown Sept 19, 1688.
He died beyond
the sea, intestate, leaving widow Mary, dau of Capt. John Grout; daughter
Sarah aged 9 yrs.
and daughter Mary aged 6 years. Administration granted to Francis Fulham of
Watertown,
May 28, 1697. Inventory £141. 7s.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah Knapp of Weston m. Oct 20, 1715 Richard Orgels of Medford.

Mary Knapp and Aaron Cutting married in Weston Mar 20, 1719/20; move to
Sudbury and after-
wards to Attleboro. These were probably the two daughters of Thomas Knapp
late of Sudbury.

Henry Knapp (?) son of John 4, adult; bap. and o.c. in Watertown Jan 15,
1699/1700; in
1704 a butcher of Newton.

Abigail Knapp (?) dau of John 5 of Newton and Benjamin Newton of Marlboro
were m. in
Watertown Oct 3, 1712.

Mary Knapp and Samuel Underwood, both of Waltham married Oct. 21, 1741.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~
p.816

KNAPP

Mar 1, 1630/1 Nicholas Knapp was fined by the court five pounds for taking
upon him to cure
the scurvy by a water of no value, which he sold at a very dear rate, to be
imprisoned till
he pay his fine, or give security for it, or else be whipped, and be liable
to any man's
action of whom he had received money for said water. [Colony Records].

Timothy Knapp, Deputy of Rye, Conn. Oct 1670.

Josuah Knapp, of Greenwich, Conn. admitted freeman 1669.

Caleb Knapp, of Stamford, Conn. admitted freeman May 1670.

Ref. p. 327 (2)
The Will of William Knapp, mentions sons William, John, and James and
daughters, Elizabeth,
Mary, Anne and Judith. Witnesses: Richard Beers, Richard Bloiss, Nathaniel
Salisbury.

Middlesex Deeds, Vol II., p. 201/3, says he died intestate and his estate
divided by order of
the Court. Perhaps the Will was set aside because made before his last
marriage. Oct 15,
1658, adminstration of the estate was granted to Ephraim Child, Richard Beers
and Priscilla
Knapp. The next April she was released from the administration. December
1658, the con-
stable of Watertown was ordered by the court to deliver Widow Knapp her chest
and other
things, which John Knapp had detained from her by attachment. December 16,
1662, Ephraim
Child and Sergt. Beers were discharged from admin. of William Knapp and John
Coolidge and
Henry Bright appointed in their place.
__________________________________________________________
p.816

Widow Margaret Knapp a town charge in 1681; died a pauper, previous to Jan
1702/3.


Joshua Knapp [?son of John [5.] and Sarah], m. (1) Sarah ____, and had:
1. Samuel b. in Roxbury June 26, 1715 "not an inhabitan" of Roxbury.
June 12, 1716, Joshua Knapp and family from Roxbury cautioned against
settlement in
Cambridge. Joshua Knapp m. in Newton, 1727, Elizabeth, dau of John &
Bethia Prentice.
____________________________________________
p.816

James Knapp was one of the original proprietors of Groton; was a sergeant;
was one of the
four men to whom a grant was made to encourage the building a mill in Groton.
Elizabeth
Knapp of Groton (wife of James) was one of the bewitched persons mentioned by
Cotton Mather.
[See Caleb Butler p. 254] - Below.

This was probably the Elizabeth Knapp who lived in the family of Samuel Cole
of Boston,
in November 1657. *She probably married John Buttery, and went with him to
England.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

History of Groton, Massachusetts by Caleb Butler, 1848.

p.254

"The Second Example"

In the town of Groton, one Elizabeth Knapp, (October 1671), was taken after a
very strange
manner; sometimes weeping, sometimes laughing, sometimes roaring, with
violent agitations,
crying out "Money! Money!" Her tongue would be for many hours together
drawn like a
semi-circle up to the roof of her mouth, so that no fingers applied to it
could remove it.
Six men were scarce able to hold her in some of her fits, but she would skip
about the house
yelling and howling and looking hideously.

"On December 17th her tongue being drawn out of her mouth to an extraordinary
lengh, a daemon
began manifestly to speak in her, for many words distinctly uttered, wherein
are the labial
letters, without any motion of the lips at all; words, also, were uttered
from her throat,
sometimes when her mouth was wholly shut, and sometimes words were uttered
when her mouth
was wide open, but no organs of speech used therein. The chief things that
the daemon spoke,
were horrid railings against the godly minister of the town; but likewise he
sometimes belched
out most nefarious blasphemies again the God of heaven. And one thing about
this young
woman was yet more particularly remarkable; she cried out in her fits, that a
certain woman
in the neighborhood apeared unto her and was the only cause of her affliction.

"The woman thus cried out upon was doubtless a holy, devout, and virtuous
woman; and she,
by the advice of her friends, visited the afflicted. The possessed creature,
though she was
in one of her fits and had her eyes wholly shut, yet when this innocent woman
was coming,
she discovered herself wonderfully sensible about it, and was in grievous
agonies at her
approaches.

"But this innocent woman, thus accused and abused by a malicious devil,
prayed earnestly with,
as well as for this possessed creature; whereupon coming to herself, she
confessed that she
had been deluded by Satan, and compelled by him unreasonabley to think and
speak evil of a
good neighbor without a cause. After this, there was no further complaint of
such an one's
apparition, but she said some devil, in the shape of divers, did very
diversely and cruelly
torment her and then told her it was not he but they, that were her
tormentors."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth

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