Charles E. Belknap

Charles E. Belknap

Charles Eugene Belknap (born October 17, 1846 in Massena , St. Lawrence County , New York , †  January 16, 1929 in Grand Rapids , Michigan ) was an American politician . Between 1889 and 1893 he represented the state of Michigan twice in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Charles Belknap attended the public schools in his home country and moved to Grand Rapids with his parents in 1855. Between 1862 he took part in the civil war. He rose to the rank of captain in the Union's army . In 1864 he was with General William T. Sherman's forces , who captured Atlanta and crossed Georgia , South Carolina, and North Carolina . Between 1865 and 1871, Belknap lived on a farm near Sparta , Michigan. Then he returned to Grand Rapids. There he founded the Belknap Wagon and Sleigh Company . He also became a member of the thereFire brigade .

Politically, Belknap was a member of the Republican Party . He was on the education committee in his hometown. Between 1880 and 1882 he was a member of the Grand Rapids City Council; in 1884 he was elected mayor there. From 1885 to 1891 he was curator of the home for the deaf and dumb in Flint . In the congressional elections of 1888 he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the fifth constituency of Michigan , where he replaced the Democrat Melbourne H. Ford on March 4, 1889 , whom he had defeated in the election. Since he no longer ran in the elections of 1890 , he was initially only able to complete one legislative period in Congress until March 3, 1891 . In these elections his predecessor Melbourne Ford was chosen as his successor. But since he died on April 20, 1891, there were by-elections in the fifth district, in which Belknap was re-elected to Congress. There he ended the current legislative period between November 3, 1891 and March 3, 1893. In the elections of 1892 Belknap was defeated by the Democrat George F. Richardson . He appealed against this election result unsuccessfully.

During the Spanish-American War he did administrative work at Fort Oglethorpe . Then Charles Belknap retired into private life. He died in Grand Rapids on January 16, 1929.

Web links

• Charles E. Belknap in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Charles E. Belknap in the database of Find a Grave (English)