faknapp.html

Portland, Oregon - Its History and Builders, S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago-Portland, 1911
Page 749-50

FRANK A. KNAPP

Much property has been developed and subdivided by the real-estate firm of Knapp & Mackey, of which Frank A. Knapp is senior partner. He has been identified with the real-estate business in Portland since 1903 and now occupies a suite of rooms in the Board of Trade building. The period of his residence in Portland covers twenty-seven years. The city of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, numbers him among its native sons and he remained a resident there from the tikne of his birth, in 1853, until he was thirteen years of age, when he went with his parents, William A. and Lucinda (Gilbert) Knapp, to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He is indebted to the public school system of that state for the educational privileges which he enjoyed and after leaving school he embarked in manufacturing in Fond du Lac, where he resided until 1883 - the year of his arrival in Portland.
Mr. Knapp came to this city as manager for the Frank Brothers Implement Company, which position he held for over fifteen years, contributing in a large measure to the successful conduct of that enterprise. In 1903, with A. L. Maxwell as a partner, he turned his attention to the real-estate business, which they conducted at that time exclusively on a commission basis. One of Mr. Knapp's first important deals was selling to the American Can Company the site they now occupy on the river front. About a year after the establishment of the business A. L. Maxwell withdrew from the firm and six months later S. P. Mackey was admitted as junior partner, under the Present firm style of Knapp & Mackey. They have done considerable business in developing and selling lots in various subdivisions throughout the city. While none of these have been extremely large. they have handled many different subdivisions and at this writing in 1910 are closing up the sales on their latest one, Ardenwald, having sold about one hundred and fifty lots in that subdivision, which is located just east of the golf links in Portland.
Mr. Knapp has been married twice. He first wedded Miss Emma Raymond, and unto them was born a daughter, Mrs. C. M. Huriburt, of Hood River, Oregon. His present wife was at the time of her marriage to Mr. Knapp the widow of J.W. Brazee, who was a pioneer river man of Portland. Her maiden name was Minnie Biles. Her father, James Biles, now deceased, was one of Portland's pioneers, who crossed the plains with his family when his daughter Minnie was but nine months old.
Mr. Knapp is a valued member of the Arlington and Commercial Clubs and of the Masonic fraternity - associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and the principles that govern his conduct. The firm of Knapp & Mackey has rapidly progressed to a foremost position in real-estate circles in Portland.