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Note: Charles H. Knapp loved the outdoors and hunting, trapping, and other outdoor pursuits. He was a phenomenal marksman and tales of his shooting skills are still recounted to this day by his descendants. He also really enjoyed history and whenever he was on trips he always had to stop to read the historical markers. He liked to collect little pieces of history such as hand-made nails from old cabins, or bullets from Civil War battle fields. He was born in a log cabin located in Beaverton Township, Gladwin County, Michigan. At the age of five years old he already was hunting and carrying two pistols. It wasn't long before he was an expert woodsman and able to make money for himself and his family from his hunting and trapping. At the age of twelve he was selling newspapers in Alma, Michigan. When he was just sixteen he walked all the way to Detroit, a distance of miles, not just once, but twice looking for work. He finally got a job there in Detroit riding a bicycle and doing deliveries for a drug store. Later he worked as a barber, and then got work as a butcher. He rose in the ranks at Kroger Grocery and became one of their most successful district supervisors during the 1920's and early 1930's. One time he won a new Pontiac Six Sedan from Krogers for his very successful sales efforts. He supervised meat markets for them in Kentucky, and Ohio. Some of the places where he worked in those days were still quite wild and he had many interesting and sometimes dangerous experiences during this time. Later on he changed professions and got his realtors license. He kept it for most of the rest of his life. At one time he ran a business that made and sold concrete laundry tubs. He then went into sales and established a route for himself that took him all around the state of Michigan where he made a good living selling plumbing supplies. He was able to retire from that and concentrate on family and friends for many, many years. His love of history combined with his love of his family had led him to become the family historian. He collected old tintypes and other Knapp family memorabilia and in later years worked with his grandson Wyatt Knapp, and other family members, to research and preserve the family's history. He worked on that and continued his hunting, camping, and love of the outdoors right up to the last months of his life. He was a natural and skilled storyteller with a great sense of timing, and often kept friends, family and grandchildren entertained with the tales of his adventures over the years, and his recounting of family anectdotes. There was always smiles and laughter whenever he came to visit.
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