Belnap Family Organization
Encyclopedia
The Belnap Family Organization is a non-profit
ancestral family organization
that conducts primary genealogical
research and preserves genealogical and other historical information on the Belnap/Belknap
family surname
, including the descendants of Mormon Pioneer Gilbert Belnap
(1821–1899) and his plural wives Adaline Knight (1831–1919) and Henrietta McBride (1821–1899). According to its mission statement, the organization exists "to preserve, perpetuate, and promote family solidarity." It is one of the oldest and largest ancestral family organizations in existence, having been established in Utah
in 1904.
as an "outstanding publication" in genealogical publishing.
In 1968, the Belnap Family Organization was recognized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as one of the "best-organized" family organizations in existence.
The organization has sponsored the publication of several works on the life of Gilbert Belnap and his extended family. It has also undertaken several large-scale genealogical research and restoration projects. It was one of the first ancestral family organizations to participate in the LDS Church's name extraction program, in England
and the United States
. The organization was also a leader in the first compilation of computerized family trees.
In 1997 as part of the sesquicentennial celebration of the Mormon Trail
, the organization commemorated and dedicated a memorial marker in Ashland, Nebraska
in honor of John McBride Belnap, a 13-month-old child of Gilbert Belnap and Adaline Knight who died of cholera
in 1850 and was buried in his father's tool chest
near the Saline Ford at the confluence of Salt Creek and the Platte River
along the Oxbow Trail. Events held in commemoration of the life of John McBride Belnap received national coverage.
In addition to supporting ongoing family history research, artifact preservation, and LDS temple
ordinance work, the organization makes available primary and secondary source documentation, through various web sites, on notable family members, including Sir Robert Belknap
, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
of England from 1377 to 1388, Vinson Knight
, early leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Martha McBride Knight Smith Kimball
, documented plural wife of Joseph Smith, Jr. and later Heber C. Kimball
.
or who descend from such persons.
(The surname Belnap or Belknap is believed to be somewhat unique, in that all known Belnaps or Belknaps living today are thought to descend from one man, Abraham Beltoft alias Belknap, who migrated from Sawbridgeworth
, England
to Massachusetts
about 1635. Although the surname continued in England for several centuries through other branches of the family, it has since died out in its country of origin.)
One of the larger and older Mormon family organizations in continuous existence for more than a century, the Belnap Family Organization, a 501(c)(3) association since 1974 organized under the laws of Utah
, serves as an umbrella organization through its 15 constituent branches (one for each of Gilbert Belnap's children who lived to adulthood) for sub-organizations at the grandparent and parent levels.
in 1904 in Hooper, Utah
. Family reunions today are usually held on the second Saturday in August in even-numbered years.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
ancestral family organization
Family association
Generally, a family association or family organization is an organization formed by people who share a common ancestor or surname. They join together for a variety of purposes including exchanging genealogical information, sharing current news about family members, having reunions, and promoting...
that conducts primary genealogical
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
research and preserves genealogical and other historical information on the Belnap/Belknap
Belknap
-Locations:In the United States:*Belknap, Illinois*Belknap, Louisville, Kentucky*Belknap County, New Hampshire**Belknap Mountain*Belknap Crater, a volcanic feature in Oregon*Belknap Hill, in Grand Rapids, Michigan*Belknap Springs, Oregon...
family surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
, including the descendants of Mormon Pioneer Gilbert Belnap
Gilbert Belnap
Gilbert Belnap was a Mormon pioneer, LDS Church leader, and an early colonizer of Ogden, Utah, Fort Lemhi, Idaho and Hooper, Utah.-Biography:...
(1821–1899) and his plural wives Adaline Knight (1831–1919) and Henrietta McBride (1821–1899). According to its mission statement, the organization exists "to preserve, perpetuate, and promote family solidarity." It is one of the oldest and largest ancestral family organizations in existence, having been established in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
in 1904.
Publications, projects, and awards
Since 1963, the organization has periodically published the Belnap Family Crier, which contains genealogical data, historical information, and other items of family interest. In 1967 the Crier was honored by the Genealogical Society of UtahGenealogical Society of Utah
The Genealogical Society of Utah , established in 1894, does business as FamilySearch International, which is the genealogical arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
as an "outstanding publication" in genealogical publishing.
In 1968, the Belnap Family Organization was recognized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as one of the "best-organized" family organizations in existence.
The organization has sponsored the publication of several works on the life of Gilbert Belnap and his extended family. It has also undertaken several large-scale genealogical research and restoration projects. It was one of the first ancestral family organizations to participate in the LDS Church's name extraction program, in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The organization was also a leader in the first compilation of computerized family trees.
In 1997 as part of the sesquicentennial celebration of the Mormon Trail
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868...
, the organization commemorated and dedicated a memorial marker in Ashland, Nebraska
Ashland, Nebraska
Ashland is a city in Saunders County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 2,262 at the 2000 census.- History :Ashland is located at the site of a low-water limestone ledge along the bottom of Salt Creek, an otherwise mud-bottomed stream that was a formidable obstacle for wagon trains on the...
in honor of John McBride Belnap, a 13-month-old child of Gilbert Belnap and Adaline Knight who died of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
in 1850 and was buried in his father's tool chest
Toolbox
A toolbox varies with the craft of the owner. The purpose of the toolbox is to organize, carry, and protect the owner's tools used for trade, hobby or DIY.-Types of toolboxes:...
near the Saline Ford at the confluence of Salt Creek and the Platte River
Platte River
The Platte River is a major river in the state of Nebraska and is about long. Measured to its farthest source via its tributary the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which in turn is a tributary of the Mississippi River which flows to...
along the Oxbow Trail. Events held in commemoration of the life of John McBride Belnap received national coverage.
In addition to supporting ongoing family history research, artifact preservation, and LDS temple
Temple (LDS Church)
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord, and they are considered by Church members to be the most sacred structures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time...
ordinance work, the organization makes available primary and secondary source documentation, through various web sites, on notable family members, including Sir Robert Belknap
Robert Bealknap
His Worship Sir Robert Bealknap JP was a British justice. He is first mentioned in June 1351 in a papal register of indults issued to inhabitants of Great Britain, where he is called a "clerk, of the diocese of Salisbury" in Wiltshire. He next appears in 1353 as a member of a commission to...
, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
The Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, was the second highest common law court in the English legal system until 1880, when it was dissolved. As such, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was one of the highest judicial officials in England, behind only the Lord...
of England from 1377 to 1388, Vinson Knight
Vinson Knight
Vinson Knight was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He served as a counselor in the Bishopric in Kirtland, Ohio from 1835 to 1838, then as Bishop in Adam-ondi-Ahman in Daviess County, Missouri from 1838 to 1839, and finally as Bishop of the Lower Ward in Nauvoo, Illinois, having...
, early leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Martha McBride Knight Smith Kimball
Martha McBride Knight
Martha McBride Knight Smith Kimball was a founding member of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which was organized on her birthday in 1842. She was married to early Latter Day Saint leader Vinson Knight, by whom she had seven children. In 1842 she was sealed as...
, documented plural wife of Joseph Smith, Jr. and later Heber C. Kimball
Heber C. Kimball
Heber Chase Kimball was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. He served as one of the original twelve apostles in the early Latter Day Saint church, and as first counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his...
.
Membership
Membership in the Belnap Family Organization is automatic for all descendants of Gilbert Belnap, who now number over 10,000 and are found in most states and several countries outside the U.S. Membership is also available to other persons surnamed Belnap or BelknapBelknap
-Locations:In the United States:*Belknap, Illinois*Belknap, Louisville, Kentucky*Belknap County, New Hampshire**Belknap Mountain*Belknap Crater, a volcanic feature in Oregon*Belknap Hill, in Grand Rapids, Michigan*Belknap Springs, Oregon...
or who descend from such persons.
(The surname Belnap or Belknap is believed to be somewhat unique, in that all known Belnaps or Belknaps living today are thought to descend from one man, Abraham Beltoft alias Belknap, who migrated from Sawbridgeworth
Sawbridgeworth
Sawbridgeworth is a small, mainly residential, town and also a civil parish in Hertfordshire, England.- Location :Sawbridgeworth is four miles south of Bishop's Stortford, twelve miles east of Hertford and nine miles north of Epping. It lies on the A1184 and has a railway station that links to...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
about 1635. Although the surname continued in England for several centuries through other branches of the family, it has since died out in its country of origin.)
One of the larger and older Mormon family organizations in continuous existence for more than a century, the Belnap Family Organization, a 501(c)(3) association since 1974 organized under the laws of Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, serves as an umbrella organization through its 15 constituent branches (one for each of Gilbert Belnap's children who lived to adulthood) for sub-organizations at the grandparent and parent levels.
Reunions
Under the auspices of the organization, descendants of Gilbert Belnap and other Belnap/Belknap relatives have met at least 39 times, starting with the first family reunionFamily reunion
A family reunion is an occasion when many members of an extended family get together. Sometimes reunions are held regularly, for example on the same date of every year....
in 1904 in Hooper, Utah
Hooper, Utah
Hooper is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States, first called Muskrat Springs and later Hooperville for Captain William H. Hooper, an early Utah delegate to Congress. The population was 3,926 at the 2000 census...
. Family reunions today are usually held on the second Saturday in August in even-numbered years.
See also
- Belknap (surname)Belknap (surname)Belknap or Belnap is a surname of Norman origin from England that may come from the Anglo-Norman words "belle," meaning beautiful, and "knap," meaning the crest or summit of a small hill...
- Gilbert BelnapGilbert BelnapGilbert Belnap was a Mormon pioneer, LDS Church leader, and an early colonizer of Ogden, Utah, Fort Lemhi, Idaho and Hooper, Utah.-Biography:...
- Martha McBride KnightMartha McBride KnightMartha McBride Knight Smith Kimball was a founding member of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which was organized on her birthday in 1842. She was married to early Latter Day Saint leader Vinson Knight, by whom she had seven children. In 1842 she was sealed as...
- Vinson KnightVinson KnightVinson Knight was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He served as a counselor in the Bishopric in Kirtland, Ohio from 1835 to 1838, then as Bishop in Adam-ondi-Ahman in Daviess County, Missouri from 1838 to 1839, and finally as Bishop of the Lower Ward in Nauvoo, Illinois, having...
External links
- Ancestors and Descendants of Sir Robert Belknap at sirrobertbelknap.org
- Vinson Knight (1804-1842) at vinsonknight.org