©2003 Brigham Young University. All rights reserved.
Melinda South, a descendant of the creator of the collection, donated the collection to Brigham Young University Library on 8 December 1997.
This collection is open to the public.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from Justin Willis Knapp (1886-1969) Collection must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.
Justin Willis Knapp was born on 5 October 1886 to Justin Abraham Knapp and Anna Eliza Lemmon in Richmond, Cache, Utah. He was one and a half years old when his family moved to Rexburg, Idaho. As he grew to a mature age, he helped to pull, pile, and burn the sage brush along with his father and sisters. There was plenty of work for everyone to do. There was very little of the country fenced in, so many people let their cattle and farm animals run loose, so there was always ample work to do. Some days, he and his family would ride for four to five miles for their horses and cows.
On 2 June 1908, Justin left his family in Idaho to go on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Independence, Missouri, the headquarters of the Central States Mission. It took him some time to overcome his fear of meeting people and to get involved in the missionary work. But through constant tracting and holding meetings, he overcame this fear and became a very productive missionary. He sold more Bible commentaries in one week than any other elder had sold during his entire mission.
While Justin was gone, his family had a hard time supporting him in the mission field and taking care of the family. When he returned home, he found his father very busy raising horses. His father asked him to take over the family farm and so he did. Justin also went to Marysville to see the girl who had faithfully written him throughout his mission. Through these letters, their friendship had grown into love. Justin built a house on the north-west corner of the farm and on 17 August 1910, Mabel F. Hale and Justin were married in the Salt Lake Temple. They would have nine children of which only seven lived to adulthood.
Justin and his family lived on the farm he grew up on for several years, but due to his extreme cases of hay fever, he moved his family to Island Park, Idaho. He worked there for Targhee Tie Company. They eventually moved back to Rexburg, Idaho in June of 1936. On 15 June 1969, Justin died having lived a full life.
The contents of this collection include: autobiographies, missionary record books, and a mission account book of Justin Willis Knapp. Alma Helaman Hale, Jr. Collection was donated by the same donor. She is a descendent of both of the men. Mabel F. Hale was the daughter of Alma Helaman Hale, Jr, who married Justin Willis Knapp. Autobiography of Justin Willis Knapp and Samuel Rich South; and Central States Mission.
The contents of this collection are contained in four folders. The contents include the following: autobiographies, missionary record books, and a mission account book. The autobiographies are contained in folder one, and the rest of the contents each contain their own folder.