2026 marks 200 years since the first permanent white settler arrived in modern day Grand Rapids. To commemorate, News 8 will produce a series of stories throughout the year profiling some of the city’s founders and those who helped shape Grand Rapids into what it is today.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Charles Belknap held a lot of titles in his 82 years. He was a farmer and entrepreneur, a firefighter and a war hero, a mayor and congressman.
But history remembers him as a captain, known not just for his days fighting to save the union, but also for the legacy he left behind.
A WILY YOUTH
Charles Eugene Belknap was born in 1846 in New York. When he was 9 years old, his family made the move to Michigan. In his book, “The Yesterdays of Grand Rapids” — part memoir, part retelling of local history — Belknap explained that his family was caught up in the financial panic that defined the 1830s and 1840s…