Edwin William Knappe was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 14 January 1884, to Herman
Knappe and Anna Mueller Knappe. Educated in Milwaukee Public Schools, Knappe left
school before graduation to pursue work as a machinist. In his early twenties,
Knappe joined the Socialist Party and worked abroad as a machinist for several
years. After returning to Milwaukee and completing his high school degree, he ran
unsuccessfully for Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors in 1908 and served as
deputy clerk of the circuit court from 1911 to 1913. During his tenure with the
circuit court, he ran a losing campaign for State Assembly in 1912.
In 1913, Knappe completed his juris doctorate at Marquette University Law School and
was admitted to the bar. He practiced law at the firm Kleist, Harriman & Knappe.
From 1915 to 1918 he served as Milwaukee election commissioner. In 1918, he was
elected to the State Assembly, representing the 10th Milwaukee County Assembly
District. Knappe did not run for re-election in 1920.
In 1928, he ran an unsuccessful campaign for Milwaukee County District Attorney as a
Socialist candidate. In 1932, he was appointed Assistant City Attorney for the City
of Milwaukee, but lost the position when City Attorney Max Raskin was defeated in
1936. He ran unsuccessfully for the Wisconsin State Legislature in 1942, Milwaukee’s
City Attorney in 1944 and the United States Senate in 1946 and 1950. In 1941, Knappe
succeeded Frank P. Zeidler as secretary of the Wisconsin and Milwaukee County
Socialist party groups.
Beginning in the early 1930s Knappe became involved in a committee to evaluate,
survey and report on the distribution system of Wisconsin’s Dairy industry,
specifically focusing on milk. This task would overlap and outlast his tenure as
Assistant City Attorney and into 1940. The Wisconsin Milk Strikes of 1933 also
occurred during this project.
Knappe married his first wife, Ella Kleist sometime between 1911 and 1916 and had two
children with her, Henrietta and Herman. Ella Kleist Knappe passed away in 1937. In
1945 he married Catherine Ebener, also a widow. They remained together until his
death in 1971. Catherine Ebener Knappe died in 1973.
