Knapp, Seaman Asahel, Papers, 1856-1931 and undated

Creator: Knapp, Seaman Asahel

Collection #: S.549.1 #

Language: English

Biographical Sketch

Seaman Knapp was born December 16, 1833, in Essex County, New York, and attended Poultney Academy and Union College, from which he graduated in 1856. He taught at Fort Edward Institute and later founded the Ripley Female College in Poultney, Vermont (1863). In 1866, he moved to Iowa to farm. In 1879, Knapp was appointed Professor of Practical and Experimental Agriculture at Iowa State Agriculture College and held that post until 18885, when he moved to Louisiana. There he became active in rice farming and served as the first president of the Rice Growers' Association. In 1897, he began working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, taking charge of the demonstration farms in the South, and was active in the formation of the Agriculture Extension Service. Knapp married Maria Hotchkiss in 18856, and they had three sons and two daughters. One son, Bradford Knapp, served as president of Texas Technological College from 1932 to 1938. Seaman Knapp died on April 1, 1911.

The Handbook of Texas has published a more in-depth online biography of Seaman A. Knapp at http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/KK/fkn2.html.

Scope and Contents

The collection includes correspondence, financial and legal materials, charts, maps and graphs, printed material, news clippings, literary productions and scrapbooks pertaining to Seaman A. Knapp. It bulks (1892-1912) with correspondence, including letters from William Howard Taft and Booker T. Washington, as well as printed material and literary productions concerning early 20th century agriculture. 21 prints and 6 negatives were transferred to photographs.

Restrictions

Open for Research

Related Material

Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library

Bradford Knapp Papers, 1891-1940 and undated

Preferred Citation

Seaman Asahel Knapp Papers, 1856-1931 and undated, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

Accession Information

Gifts, 1970

Processing Information

Processed by: B. Lynn Whitfield, June 2000

Baily, Joseph Cannon. Seaman A. Knapp: Schoolmaster of American Agriculture. New York: Columbia University Press, 1945.

Life. La Porte, Texas. 1957

Cline, Rodney. The Life and Work of Seaman A. Knapp. Ph.D. disseratation, George Peabody College for Teachers, 1936.

Southworth, Herbert R. A Survey of the Life of Seaman A. Knapp. M.A. Thesis, Texas Technological College, Lubbock, 1934.

Woodward, C. Vann. Origins of the New South, 1877-1913. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1951.

Collection Inventory

American Museum of Natural History to Literary Production Files

Box 1

• Folder 1, American Museum of Natural History, 1906
• Folder 2, Anniversary: Seaman and Maria Knapp, 1856
• Folder 3, Appointments: Department of Agriculture, 1898-1911
• Folder 4, Appointments: State of Louisiana, 1908
• Folder 5, Biographical Material, 1904-1912 and undated
• Folder 6, Business Cards, undated
• Folder 7, Commencement Materials, 1909 and undated
• Folder 8, Correspondence, undated
• Folder 9, Correspondence, 1892-1898
• Folder 10, Correspondence, 1901-1902
• Folder 11, Correspondence, 1903
• Folder 12, Correspondence, 1904-1906
• Folder 13, Correspondence, 1907
• Folder 14, Correspondence, 1908
• Folder 15, Correspondence, 1909
• Folder 16, Correspondence, 1910
• Folder 17, Correspondence, 1911
• Folder 18, Correspondence, 1913-1927
• Folder 19, Correspondence: Knapp's Death, 1911
• Folder 20, Cotton Production Statistics, 1878-1931 and undated
• Folder 21, Farmers' Demonstration Work Agreements, 1906-1909 and undated
• Folder 22, Financial Materials, 1903-1907 and undated
• Folder 23, Legal Material, 1903-1907 and undated
• Folder 24, Literary Productions: Agricultural Education for the Rural Districts, undated
• Folder 25, Literary Productions: Agricultural Education in the Southern States, undated

Literary Production to Printed Materials

Box 2

• Folder 1, Literary Productions: Agriculture in the Southern States, 1909-1911 and undated
• Folder 2, Literary Productions: Boll Weevil, 1909-1910 and undated
• Folder 3, Literary Productions: Boys' Corn Clubs, undated
• Folder 4, Literary Productions: Crops and Farming, 1903-1909 and undated
• Folder 5, Literary Productions: Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration Work, 1907-1908 and undated
• Folder 6, Literary Productions: Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration Work, 1909 and undated
• Folder 7, Literary Productions: A Method of Teaching Practical Agriculture to Boys in the Rural Districts, undated
• Folder 8, Literary Productions: Nature of the Farmer, 1907-1910 and undated
• Folder 9, Literary Productions: Our Colleges of Agriculture, undated
• Folder 10, Literary Productions: Rural COnditions and Reform, 1907-1911
• Folder 11, Literary Productions: Shall Agriculture Be Taught in the Secondary Schools of the U.S., undated
• Folder 12, Literary Productions: The Young Man of the Country Must Apply Business Methods to the Farm, undated
• Folder 13, News Clippings, 1898-1911 and undated
• Folder 14, News Clippings: Boll Weevil and Agriculture, 1903-1917 and undated
• Folder 15, News Clippings: Knapp, Seaman Asahel, 1900-1929 and undated
• Folder 16, News Clippings: Knapp School in Tennessee, 1912-1915 and undated
• Folder 17, News Clippings: Rice Industry, 1902-1913
• Folder 18, North Carolina Society of New York, 1908 and undated
• Folder 19, Oil Derivative Chart, 1927
• Folder 20, Posters, 1908 and undated
• Folder 21, Printed Materials, 1897-1915 and undated

Programs to Stationary Files

Box 3

• Folder 1, Programs, 1903-1910
• Folder 2, Publications: "The Causes of Southern Rural Conditions and the Small Farm as an Important Remedy, 1908"
• Folder 3, Publications: "Demonstration Work in Cooperation with Southern Farmers, 1908"
• Folder 4, Publications: "Demonstration Work on Southern Farms, 1910"
• Folder 5, Publications: "Dr. S. A. Knapp's Address, 1907-1918"
• Folder 6, Publications: "Dr. S. A. Knapp's Address on Rural Conditions, 1907"
• Folder 7, Publications: "Dr. Seaman Knapp Memorials, 1912-1914"
• Folder 8, Publications: "Farmer's Co-operative Demonstration Work, 1906-1909"
• Folder 9, Publications: "Farmers' Co-operative Demonstration Work and Its Results, 1906"
• Folder 10, Publications: "Farmers' Co-operative Demonstration Work in its Relation to Rural Improvement, 1908"
• Folder 11, Publications: "The Irish Potato, undated"
• Folder 12, Publications: "Recent Foreign Explorations, 1903"
• Folder 13, Publications: "Rice Culture, 1910"
• Folder 14, Publications: "Rice Culture in the United States, 1899"
• Folder 15, Publications: "Shall Agriculture Be Taught in the Secondary Schools in the United States, undated"
• Folder 16, Publications: "The Work of the Community Demonstration Farm at Terrell, Texas, 1904"
• Folder 17, Publications: "United States Department of Agriculture, 1907-1908"
• Folder 18, Publications: "United States Department of Agriculture, 1909"
• Folder 19, Publications: "United States Department of Agriculture, 1910"
• Folder 20, Publications: "United States Department of Agriculture, 1911"
• Folder 21, Scrapbook: News Clippings on S. A. Knapp, 1909-1917
• Folder 22, Scrapbook: Obituaries on S. A. Knapp, 1911
• Folder 23, Southwest trail, The Farmers' Co-operative Demonstration Work, 1912
• Folder 24, Speeches (by Seaman Knapp), 1907-1908
• Folder 25, Speeches (Not By Seaman Knapp), 1907-1908
• Folder 26, Stationary, undated
• Folder 27, Correspondence, Business Letterbook, 1905-1907
• Folder 28, Financial Material, Cash Ledger Book, 1862-1868
• Folder 29, Financial Material, Cash Ledger Book, 1888-1908