Meeker County MN Archives Biographies.....Belknap, George S. 1828 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 January 8, 2020, 8:17 pm

Source: Alden, Ogle & Co.
Author: See Below

    GEORGE S. BELKNAP is one of the most prominent citizens of Swede Grove township,
He is a son of Stephen and Elizabeth Belknap, and was born on the 28th of March,
1828, in the village of Bloomingburgh, N. Y., eighty-four miles from New York city.
Mr. Belknap traces his ancestry back through some of the most notable families in
American history. He is a grandson of Lieut. William Belknap, who entered the
service of his country in Col. Henry Beckman Livingston’s Fourth Regiment, and
continued in the service until the conclusion of the war. He was an original member
of the New York State Society of the Cincinnati, formed by the officers of the
American army of the revolution at the cantonment on the banks of the Hudson river
in May, 1783. Gen. George Washington was elected president-general of the society,
and held that honor until the day of his death. The officers of the American army
having generally been taken from the citizens of America possessing high veneration
for the character of that illustrious Roman, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus, who was
found following the plough when the statesmen of his country sought him as the only
one capable of leading their armies to victory, and clothed him with absolute power,
and who, having achieved the salvation of his country, laid aside that power and
gladly returned to his plough and the obscurity of domestic life, they thought they
could with propriety denominate themselves the Society of the Cincinnati.

   The original design or idea seems to have been of an institution bearing
resemblance to a military order. The subject of this sketch was elected a member of
this organization July 4, 1861.

   George S. Belknap received an academical education, then went to New York City
and learned the tailor’s trade, at which he became an expert, and was promoted to
the position of draughtsman, at a salary of $2,500 per year. During the war he was
inspector of army supplies and equipage in the quartermaster’s department, under
Deputy Quartermaster-General, Colonel Vinton, which position he held until the close
of hostilities, and then reengaging in his former business with his old-time
employer. In 1877.he came to Meeker county, Minn., and settled upon the farm where
he now resides, on section 6, Swede Grove township, having previously taken the farm
on a mortgage. A short time later he rented the farm and stock for a term of five
years, and returned to New York, but a short time later was obliged to return, as
his tenant proved a very poor manager.

   Mr. Belknap was married, on the 23d of February, 1851, to Ellen Craft, by whom he
had five children, as follows— Mary Alice, born July 21, 1S53; Lydia S., born March
18, 1861 (died in 18841); Cora Ellen, born September 9, 1863; Jessie, born February
15, 1866, and Ida Elizabeth, born June 25, 1858. Ida E. married Alexander T.
Caraccioli, a salesman in a wholesale music store in New York City; Cora E. married
Horton Parsons, born in this State, who has charge of a railroad station in Dakota;
and Jessie married Lewis Handlin. railroad station agent at Hancock, Minn. They have
all been school teachers. Mr. Belknap’s second marriage occurred on the 16th of
August, 1874, when he wedded Sarah J. Mead, a daughter of Daniel and Eleanor Mead.
Her first husband, Martin A. Mosier, was killed in the rebellion; her father was a
soldier in the war of 1812. Her mother is still alive, a resident of New York State.
Mr. Belknap’s people are all dead except one brother, who is a bookkeeper in
Newberg, N. Y. Mr Belknap is one of the best posted and educated men in the county.
In political matters he is a republican.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
Illustrated Album of Biography
Meeker and McLeod Counties, Minnesota
1888


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