The collection includes family papers for several generations of Knaggs. Among them are a petition by George Knaggs for reimbursement of property damaged in the War of 1812; a silhouette of Whitmore Knaggs; tax receipts for land in Detroit, Mich., Lucas and Henry Counties, Ohio and Eldora, Kansas; an 1866 Toledo, Ohio census; and essay on epidemics in Toledo, undated (ca. late 18th century?); and a telegram from the mayor of Chicago, R. B. Mason about the distress caused by the Great Fire of 1871.
Biography:
Whitmore Knaggs (1763-1827) was an Army officer and trader who fought under “Mad” Anthony Wayne in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1794. He had five children. His eldest son, James, was a famous Indian fighter who became prominent in the early history of Toledo, Ohio. James had two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary. John, Whitemore’s second son, had five children: John W., Worthington W., Adeline, Henry, and Maria. Whitemore’s third son Peter W. had five children: Alexander H., Charles, James W., Edward, and Sophia Catherine. Whitmore youngest children were George B. and Elizabeth. Elizabeth married Peter Desnoyer and had three children: Charles, Francis, and Lewis P. The Knaggs family was important in the development of early northern Ohio and Michigan. (This information is from the collection.)
