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ITEM: O. B. Knapp biography SOURCE: The History of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880 (Fairwater Historical Society, gift from Richard and Joyce Damerau)
O. B. KNAPP, farmer, Sec. 28; P. 0. Brandon; was born in Vermont in November, 1828; he early exhibited a taste for travel, and showed mechanical ability; at the age of 19 he took a fishing cruise of a year on the Atlantic; in 1849, he went to California via the Panama route, and spent two years mainly in mining; soon after returning to Vermont, he made a second trip, via the Nicaragua route, in 1851, and again remained two years engaged in mining, building and other enterprises; returned to Vermont, and, on the 14th of June, 1854, he was married to Miss Ellen A. Worth, of Vermont; they soon came West and located on the beautiful "Round Prairie," about two miles west of Brandon, on Sec. 28, township of Metomen; this farm of 200 acres is charmingly located on elevated, rich prairie; they have an attractive residence, commodious barns and a well-improved farm; he carries on general farming, but has 200 sheep, many of which are registered full-blooded merinos, and they are his especial pets; they have had three children--William O., Walter (deceased), and Gertrude F. He is a natural mechanic--some call him an inventive genius; his mill for pumping water and grinding grain is of his own patent and construction; he delights to "play with machinery." Is not a member of any church; is a Republican and temperance on principle; is a thinking man of conceded influence.
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