Gold knob engraved Captain Charles E. Belknap / Trustee, Kalamazoo State Hospital, 1903-1905, 1907-1913 / Presented by Associates & Officers of Institution. Knob 2.5 in., total length 36.5 in. Charles E. Belknap (1846-1929) joined the 21st Michigan Volunteer Infantry as a 15-year-old private and, remarkably, earned promotions all the way to captain before reaching the age of 17-and-a-half. He was wounded in action at least four times and his promotion to first lieutenant was personally ordered by General Sheridan for gallantry at Chickamauga. After the war, he returned to his family's farm in Sparta, Michigan, before moving to Grand Rapids to open a wagon and sleigh company and begin a life of civilian service that would arguably outweigh his impressive record of military service. Belknap served as a foreman and assistant chief of the fire department, a member of the board of education, an alderman, and as mayor of Grand Rapids by 1884. In 1888 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican, serving until 1893. In addition, he volunteered for stateside duty during the Spanish American War, served as a trustee for the Michigan Institute for the Deaf and Dumb and the Kalamazoo State Hospital, led fundraising in support of Liberty Loans, the Red Cross, and the Y.M.C.A., and was involved in local chapters of the GAR, Elk, Lions, Loyal Legion, Army & Navy Club, and Boy Scouts.
Gold knob engraved Captain Charles E. Belknap / Trustee, Kalamazoo State Hospital, 1903-1905, 1907-1913 / Presented by Associates & Officers of Institution. Knob 2.5 in., total length 36.5 in. Charles E. Belknap (1846-1929) joined the 21st Michigan Volunteer Infantry as a 15-year-old private and, remarkably, earned promotions all the way to captain before reaching the age of 17-and-a-half. He was wounded in action at least four times and his promotion to first lieutenant was personally ordered by General Sheridan for gallantry at Chickamauga. After the war, he returned to his family's farm in Sparta, Michigan, before moving to Grand Rapids to open a wagon and sleigh company and begin a life of civilian service that would arguably outweigh his impressive record of military service. Belknap served as a foreman and assistant chief of the fire department, a member of the board of education, an alderman, and as mayor of Grand Rapids by 1884. In 1888 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican, serving until 1893. In addition, he volunteered for stateside duty during the Spanish American War, served as a trustee for the Michigan Institute for the Deaf and Dumb and the Kalamazoo State Hospital, led fundraising in support of Liberty Loans, the Red Cross, and the Y.M.C.A., and was involved in local chapters of the GAR, Elk, Lions, Loyal Legion, Army & Navy Club, and Boy Scouts.
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