Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/597

Rh KNEASS, Strickland, civil engineer, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 29 July, 1821; d. there, 14 Jan., 1884. His father, William Kneass, was for many years engraver of the U. S. mint. The son was graduated at Rensselaer polytechnic institute, Troy, N. Y., in 1839. From that time until 1855, when he was chosen chief engineer and surveyor of the consolidated city of Philadelphia, he was employed in his profession in various important works. He served with ability in the office of chief engineer of Philadelphia until 1872, when he resigned to accept the post of assistant to the president of the Pennsylvania railroad. He afterward became president of the Pennsylvania and Delaware and other railroads.

KNEELAND, Abner, editor, b. in Gardner, Mass., 6 April, 1774; d. near Farmington, Iowa, 27 Aug., 1844. He was first a Baptist clergyman, then became a Universalist, and finally a Pantheist. He edited a Universalist magazine in Philadelphia in 1821-'3, conducted and edited the &ldquo;Olive Branch and Christian Enquirer&rdquo; in New York city in 1828, and founded in 1832 &ldquo;The Investigator,&rdquo; an organ of free-thought, in Boston. In 1836 he was tried in Boston for blasphemy, before the supreme court of Massachusetts. See &ldquo;Review of the Prosecution against Kneeland for Blasphemy, by a Cosmopolite&rdquo; (Boston, 1836). Kneeland published &ldquo;A Columbian Miscellany&rdquo; (Keene, N. H., 1804); &ldquo;The Deist&rdquo; (New York, 1822); a &ldquo;Translation of the New Testament from the Greek&rdquo; (Philadelphia, 1822); &ldquo;Lectures on Universal Benevolence&rdquo; (1824); &ldquo;Lectures on the Doctrine of Universal Salvation&rdquo; (1824); and &ldquo;Review of the Evidences of Christianity&rdquo; (New York, 1829).

KNEELAND, Samuel, printer, b. in Boston, Mass., in 1696; d. there, 14 Dec., 1769. He was apprenticed to Benjamin Green, and for many years was printer to the government and council, printing also the laws and journals of the house of representatives. Besides many religious books and pamphlets, he published &ldquo;The Gazette&rdquo; from 1727 till 1741, and &ldquo;The New England Weekly Journal&rdquo; from 1741 till 1752.

KNEELAND, Samuel, naturalist, b. in Boston, Mass., 1 Aug., 1821. He was graduated at Harvard in 1840, and at the medical department in 1843, taking the Boylston prize for his thesis on &ldquo;Contagiousness of Puerperal Fever,&rdquo; and again, in 1844, for his essay on &ldquo;Hydrotherapy.&rdquo; Subsequently he spent two years in professional studies in Paris, and then began the practice of his profession in Boston, meanwhile serving as demonstrator of anatomy in Harvard medical school during 1845-7, and as physician to the Boston dispensary. He then passed some time in Brazil, and also visited the Lake Superior copper region. During the civil war he entered the army as acting assistant surgeon from Massachusetts, was assigned to duty with Gen. Burnside, and accompanied the expedition to New Berne in March, 1862, after the capture of that place being assigned to duty at the Craven street hospital in New Berne, and at the hospital in Beaufort, N. C. In October, 1862, he was commissioned surgeon of the 45th Massachusetts regiment, and served in that capacity in New Berne till the regiment was discharged in July, 1863. He then entered the corps of surgeons of volunteers, and was placed in charge, successively, of the University hospital in New Orleans, and of the Marine hospital in Mobile. In 1866 he was mustered out of the service with the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel. He then returned to Boston, and became associated in the work of the Massachusetts institute of technology, holding the office

of instructor in 1867-'9 and professor of zoölogy and physiology in 1869-'78, also acting as secretary of the corporation in 1866-'78, and of secretary of the faculty in 1871-'8. Dr. Kneeland then returned to literary work and lecturing, which he has since followed in Boston and to the Philippine islands. He has travelled extensively in search of information concerning earthquakes and volcanic phenomena, having made visits to the Hawaiian islands and to Iceland in 1874, at the time of its millennial celebration, for this purpose. He is a member of numerous scientific societies, and has held the office of secretary to the American academy of arts and sciences, and to the Boston society of natural history. Dr. Kneeland has contributed largely to current medical literature, and was the author of many articles, mostly on zoölogical and medical subjects, in the &ldquo;American Cyclopædia.&rdquo; He edited the &ldquo;Annual of Scientific Discovery&rdquo; (1866-'9); a translation of Andry's &ldquo;Diseases of the Heart&rdquo; (Boston, 1847); and Smith's &ldquo;History of the Human Species&rdquo; (1852). His own works include &ldquo;Science and Mechanism&rdquo; (New York, 1854); &ldquo;The Wonders of the Yosemite Valley and of California&rdquo; (Boston, 1871); and &ldquo;An American in Iceland&rdquo; (1876).

KNICKERBOCKER, Johannes, soldier, b. in Schaghticoke, N. Y.. in 1749 ; d. there about 1827. He was descended from Herman Jansen Knickerbocker, of Friesland, Holland, one of the earliest settlers of the state of New York, and inherited the Knickerbocker estate at Schaghticoke from his uncle Herman. This was a grant from the city of Albany, to whom it had been conveyed by the Duke of York, and was subsequently divided between his sons. The homestead (see next page) is still standing on the site of the old fort built by the Duke of York as a defence against the French and Canadian Indians, being the extreme northern outpost of the colony at that time. The tree of peace, planted by Gov. Dongan in the presence of the friendly Indians, is in the immediate vicinity of the mansion. Col. Knickerbocker served hi the army of the Revolution, and was at the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga. He subsequently represented the county of Rensselaer in the legislature.— His son, Herman, lawyer. b. in Albany, N. Y., 27 July, 1782; d. in Williamsburg. N. Y, 30 Jan., 1855, received a classical education, studied law, and began practice in Albany. Inheriting a large property, he removed to Schaghticoke, N. Y., where he dispensed such generous hospitality that he became known as the "Prince of Schaghticoke." He was elected to the 11th congress as a Federalist, and served from 22 May, 1809, till 3 March, 1811. In 1816 he was chosen to the state assembly, and also filled the office of county judge. He is alluded to by Washington Irving, in "Knickerbocker's History of New York," as "My cousin, the congressman"; and when Mr. Irving visited Washington he introduced him to President Madison as " My cousin, Diedrich Knickerbocker, the great historian