John Knell (1831-1873) came to America from Germany in 1852 because of political conditions, and to Milwaukee in 1855. He kept a private school there, was later bookkeeper for a furniture establishment, and worked on several Milwaukee German newspapers. In 1858-1859 he was associated with others in managing a German stock company giving weekly performances in Markt-Halle. In the early 1860s, he became associated with Leopold Rindskopf & Son, distillers and wholesalers of liquor as traveling representative and later as confidential agent, and continued in this capacity until his death in 1873 at the age of forty-two.
