Lewis Knapp

Released
Gender:Male
Era:1800s
State:New York
Support
Tenant Rights Anti-Rent War
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Biography

Lewis Knapp was one of the first Anti-Rent prisoners, prosecuted under New York's new law against appearing armed and disguised — the statute aimed at the "Calico Indians" — before the killing of Undersheriff Steele. Indicted on April 3, 1845 with Anson K. Burrill and Silas Tompkins, he was sentenced to two years in state prison and freed by Governor John Young's mass Anti-Rent pardon on January 27, 1847. A fourth co-defendant, Ezekiel C. Kelley, pleaded guilty but was fined $250 rather than imprisoned, and for that reason has no entry in this database.

Case

Charges: Appearing armed and disguised, under the New York anti-disguise law of 1845 aimed at the Anti-Rent "Calico Indians".
Arrested: 1845
Incarcerated: 1845
Released: Jan 27, 1847
Sentence: Two years in state prison. Freed by Governor John Young's mass Anti-Rent pardon of January 27, 1847. One account says eighteen Anti-Rent prisoners were still in the state prisons at that point, so one of the nineteen recorded here had already left custody — the surviving lists do not agree on which — and the pardon date recorded as the release may overstate one man's term. Accounts differ on where the Anti-Rent prisoners were held: some say the Delaware County men went first to Sing Sing, while later accounts place at least Boughton and Earle at Clinton Prison before the pardon, transfers likely explaining the disagreement — so no institution is asserted here. Verdict as recorded: Yes — under the anti-disguise law, 1845.
Indicted: April 3, 1845
Convicted: Yes

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