Written by Mr. Knapp’s son, Thomas, with input from the late Carl Armerding (revised 05/30/04)
Christopher Knapp’s parents, German immigrants, settled on a truck farm in the Albany, NY, area. He was one of five sons and a daughter, and was brought up under the nominal Christian influence of Calvinistic Reformed theology. Born June 6, 1870, it is therefore not surprising that in 1889, at 19 years of age, he went west to study for the Presbyterian ministry in South Bend, Indiana.
While in South Bend, he attended meetings at the YMCA (which in those days included gospel meetings) and there came to truly know the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. Years later, writing of his conversion in a tract entitled, “Main Street, and What It Means To Me,” Knapp said:
About the first place I made for after finding a boarding house was the YMCA. The “C” stood for something in those days. There, “prayer was wont to be made,” the Scriptures were honored and studied, souls were sought after. Acquaintances there were quickly made… and one notable day one of these proposed a walk. We stepped out on Main Street together, and after going a few blocks, my companion suddenly turned to me with the question, “Knapp, are you a Christian?”
The question neither surprised nor offended me; it was a perfectly natural one, I thought (and so I still believe). So I answered frankly, “No, I am not.”
“Well, you ought to be,” he said. This I acknowledged. “Well,” he continued, “Don’t put it off: Life is too uncertain!” Then he told a searching story of a sudden death, which, under the Holy Spirit’s convicting power, turned my heart.
Yes, standing there on the pavement on Main Street under the blue spreading sky of that glorious 19th day of June, I submitted myself to Christ, I received Him as my Saviour, and in that act of faith, I passed from death unto life.
Coming into contact with Christians sometimes referred to as Plymouth Brethren, Knapp gave up his purpose of becoming a Presbyterian minister, and identified himself with that group of believers. As a young man of vigorous strength and zeal for spreading the Good News, he soon began evangelizing wherever the Lord opened doors. Thus began a life of simple dependence on the Lord for his food, clothes, lodging and travel expense.
Among the places of his early travels was Rochester, NY and, later, Minneapolis, MN. In Trout Brook MN, a small farming community, his gospel preaching was particularly effective, and a number were converted in the middle 1890’s. A century later, an assembly of believers related to his early work still exists.
At the turn of the century, Knapp went to the Bahamas and preached Christ to the folk of these islands who came to have fond appreciation for him. While preaching here and across the straits of Florida in Miami and Key West, he met his future wife, Helena Johnson (formerly of the Bahamas). They married on June 3, 1904.
Somewhat amazingly, he took this “Sunshine State” lady to the cold winter of Black Cape, on the southern shore of the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, where there were a number of Scottish settlements. She had never before seen snow, but willingly went. There, the following year, her first child, Helena, was born, almost at the cost of her life. This daughter lived until reaching 98 years of age, before being called home to be with her Lord.
A short time of laboring followed in Brownsburg– LaChute, QC, accompanied by his wife and infant daughter. He then moved on to Cumberland, ON, some miles south of Ottawa. From there, his labors took him to Napanee, ON, near Kingston, on the St. Lawrence River. There, gospel outreach resulted in a number saved and God being glorified in triumph over the power of Satan, sin and self. The following incident will illustrate that.
A farm family, the Hahns, had several girls, and one night Knapp overheard one of these girls refusing to come to the gospel meeting. On returning from the meeting, he approached her about it, asking her if she ever refused the request of her friends to go skating. “No,” she said.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because I like to go skating,” was her reply. He told her that he would pray that the day would come when she would like to go to the gospel meeting. She wrote him later to say that that came about. Such are the ways of God.
Continuing on in his labors for the Lord, he next was found in Bethlehem, PA, preaching the gospel along with Harry Ironside. Again, a number recognized their need and confessed the Lord. Here the Knapp’s second child, a son, was born in 1908. This son went on to become Admiral Chris Knapp, of the US Coast Guard, and was known as “the Bible Admiral.”
Knapp’s eager spirit soon moved him to a foreign field, what was then called Spanish Honduras (now simply Honduras), settling in the city of San Pedro Sula. This was his second trip to that place. On the previous trip, he had been detained by ship repairs at Georgetown in the Grand Cayman Islands. While there, he preached on the beach during his two-week stay and there resulted a great awakening among the local inhabitants, including not a few “dead” church members. When he left, the local elders of the church wrote an appreciating letter of thanks for his being used by God among them.
While in Honduras with his family—now increased by three daughters born to them there (Margaret, Martha and Gertrude)—his indefatigable labors took him to almost every town of that poor Central American country. His co-laborers in Honduras were Groh (US) and Hocking (UK) and Miss Fannie Arthur of Harrisburg PA. Fannie died very early on the mission field.
Knapp contracted malaria and would have died but for the Lord’s mercy and a move out of Honduras to a cooler, yet not cold, climate in Zephyrhills, FL. A young American brother in the Lord, Carl Armerding, came down to help the family move and stayed on for a while. Shortly after, Groh moved out, then Armerding, leaving only Hocking to carry on the work.
While for a time no visible fruit appeared, the seed took root and sprung up, resulting in some twenty-five assemblies of Christians being established, the remainder of which are today in fellowship with so-called Open Brethren. All this, with the Lord’s gracious blessing, resulted from “labors abundant” and illustrates 2 Timothy 2:6.
During the time Knapp was laid up with malarial fever, he was curtailed in travels but continued to labor some in the area of Tampa and Zephyrhills. He then moved back to the area of his birth, Albany, NY. Here the last two children—sons Phillip “David” (who went down on the Cruiser Vincennes on August 9, 1942 in the Battle for the Solomons) and Thomas—were born in 1918 and 1928.
From this place, he would bicycle up into the beautiful Heldeberg Mountains ridge district, to the back hill towns, distributing tracts to all who would receive them. Eternity alone will reveal the results. There was no outward, visible fruit at the time, except of course that the Name of the Lord Jesus was magnified (2 Cor. 2:14-17).
While engaged in gospel effort, brother Knapp was very careful to see to it that any saved were properly shepherded and taught the Scriptures, with him warning them of pitfalls—both doctrinal and moral. But the driving motive of his ministry was Christ’s glory, above all. Thus, he also moved about among the churches edifying, exhorting and comforting. This took him as far west as Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, as well as along the eastern seaboard.
A stroke in 1938 crippled him and made impossible the previous level of activity, though he made a partial recovery. In 1942, he left the fellowship of the so-called “Exclusive” Brethren and thereafter fellowshipped with the so-called “Open” Brethren.
His homecall came on May 19, 1945, just as World War II in Europe was ending. Now he “rests from his labors and his works do follow” (Rev. 14:13). Among these are his delightful books, including: Staff and Sceptre, Who Wrote our Hymns, Tales of Grace, Daniel and His Companions, A Fruitful Bough, The Time of Harvest, The Life and Times of Samuel the Prophet and The Kings of Judah and Israel.