Augustus Belknap | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Allegiance | United States (Union) |
| Service | U.S. Army (Union Army) |
| Years of service | 1861–1863 |
| Rank | Captain (USA) Colonel (NY Natl. Guard) |
| Unit | 7th Regiment, New York National Guard 67th New York Infantry Regiment |
| Commands | Company E (67th NY) |
| Battles / wars | |
| Born | Augustus Belknap Jr. March 19, 1841 Newburgh, New York, U.S. |
| Died | June 22, 1889(1889-06-22) (aged 48) |
| Burial place | Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, U.S. 40°39′09″N73°59′28″W / 40.65250°N 73.99111°W /40.65250; -73.99111 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
Augustus Belknap Jr. (March 19, 1841 – June 22, 1889) was an American civic leader ofSan Antonio, Civil War veteran, politician, president of the board of theSan Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway, founder of the Belknap Rifles military company and the founder of the company that operated the onlystreetcar system in the city.
He was born inNewburgh, New York, as the son of Augustus Belknap, and moved to Texas in 1877. He founded and supported the Belknap Rifles military company, organized on October 14, 1884. It won more drill competitions than any other military company in the United States in its time. The oldest concrete street in Texas, Belknap Place in San Antonio, is named for him.
He was educated in private military schools and worked in hardware before the Civil War from 1856 to 1861. He enlisted to the New York National Guard on April 19, 1861. After his terms of service expired, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was in the67th New York Infantry Regiment, seeing action in theBattle of Fair Oaks, in which he was wounded, and theBattle of Fredericksburg.[1] He enlisted in the Army as asecond lieutenant and was promoted tocaptain.[2] In his obituary in theNew York Herald it mentions that he served on the staff of GeneralAlexander Shaler during the war.[3]
Belknap became a member of the Old Guard Metropolitan Regiment in New York City after the war, and later became a junior partner in the hardware firm of William S. Dodge and Company. In March 1877, he was promoted from his rank oflieutenant colonel and ordinance officer in theNew York National Guard.[4]
He moved to Texas in 1877 and lived in San Antonio. On June 22, 1878, Belknap bought all the stock in the San Antonio Street Railway System, and led the first mule-drawn car fromAlamo Plaza toSan Pedro Springs Park. This route developed into the first streetcar line in the city.[5] He became the founder and president of the company that operated the city's only streetcar system.[1] He also was a director of the San Antonio Fair Association and president and director of the Opera House Company.[1]
Belknap was elected to be analderman from the second ward of San Antonio in 1883 and 1885.[6]Belknap was a member of the first board of theSan Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway when it was chartered on August 28, 1884.[7] He founded the Belknap Rifles on October 14, 1884, financing the military company for twenty to thirty young men who were denied admission to the San Antonio Rifles.[8] He was an alderman at-large in 1887.[6] He resigned later in 1887 to run for the 10th congressional district.[1]He ran for the seat inTexas's 10th congressional district in the51st Congress as aRepublican, against incumbentJoseph D. Sayers, losing to the congressman who would later on become the governor of Texas.[9]
He died while on a trip toSanta Barbara, California, on June 22, 1889,[10] ofulcerative colitis. He was buried in theGreen-Wood Cemetery inBrooklyn.[3]
Belknap Place, a thoroughfare in San Antonio'sMonte Vista Historic District connecting the northern edge ofSan Antonio College,Temple Beth-El and Hildebrand Avenue, that is the oldest concrete street in Texas is named for him.[11]
Mr. Sayers was Lieutenant Governor of Texas from 1879 to 1880, and was elected to the Forty-ninth Congress as a Democrat, receiving twenty-one thousand five hundred and twenty-three votes for his competitor, John B. Rector, perhaps the most popular Republican in the district, although he ran as an Independent. He was re-elected to the Fiftieth and also the Fifty-first Congresses, defeating, in the last race, a very popular gentleman, a Republican. General Belknap, of San Antonio.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forTexas's 10th congressional district 1888 | Succeeded by Austin M. Robinson |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Office established | Alderman At-large ofSan Antonio 1887 | Succeeded by J. H. Schaefer |
| Preceded by W. R. Story | Alderman of the Second Ward ofSan Antonio 1883–1887 | Succeeded by |