Martin Augustine Knapp

Biography

Born in Spafford, New York, Knapp received a B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1868 and read law to enter the Bar in 1869. He entered private practice in Syracuse, New York in 1870, and was counsel for the municipal corporation of Syracuse 1877 to 1883. In 1891, he was appointed to the Interstate Commerce Commission by President Benjamin Harrison, reappointed in 1897 by President Grover Cleveland, and again reappointed in 1902 by President Theodore Roosevelt, becoming chairman of the Commission from 1898, where he served until 1910. Under the Erdman Act as ex officio mediator, he assisted in the work of settlement of numerous disputes between the public and the railroads.

On December 12, 1910, Knapp was nominated by President William H. Taft to a new joint seat on the United States Commerce Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, created by 36 Stat. 539. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20, 1910, and received his commission the same day. His service on the Commerce Court was terminated on December 13, 1913, due to abolition of the court, and on January 1, 1916, he was reassigned to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He served thereafter until his death, in Washington, D.C.

He was appointed a mediator for two years from 4 March 1911, becoming member of the Board of Mediation and Conciliation under the Newlands Act in 1913, by appointment of President Woodrow Wilson. He was a member of several societies, including the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the American Economic Association, American Political Science Association, and the National Geographical Society.