Thomas Knapper was born December 14, 1879 in St. Louis, Missouri and spent his childhood there and in Natchez, Mississippi. He moved to Kansas City, Kansas at 17; shortly thereafter, Knapper served with the 23rd Kansas Regiment in Cuba during the Spanish American War. After returning to Kansas, he became a police patrolman. In 1921, Knapper began Thomas Knapper & Co. Booksellers, which sold books by African American authors, second hand theological books, and Masonic works. Two years later, in 1923, Knapper was ordained at the Eighth Street Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kansas, which his father, Rev. Thomas Knapper, Sr., founded as the Rose Hill Baptist Church.

In 1933, Knapper married Tillie Parker Moss. Tillie Parker was born March 12, 1875 in Lexington, Missouri. She taught in both Lexington and Lee's Summit, Missouri. In 1906 she moved to Kansas City, Kansas as the bride of Will Moss, where she was among the first African American beauticians. After Moss died, Tillie opened Tillie Moss' Cottage Tea Room and, later, became a matron at Western University. During this time, she organized the first Women's Better Government League in Kansas City, KS. After marrying Knapper, Tillie was co-owner of Knapper's book store.

Both Thomas and Tillie were active in the community. Thomas Knapper was a member of a number of Masonic groups, including the I. B. Blackburn Lodge and the Orient Consistory. He was a board member of the Wyandotte Chamber of Commerce and of Douglass State Bank where he also acted as Director. He also served as Second Vice President of the local NAACP chapter. Tillie was also active in various Masonic groups, including the Star of Bethlehem (of which she was a Matron) and the Mary Magdalene Court. She also was a Past President of the Parliamentary and Culture Club and the Interdenominational Ministers Wives Alliance of Greater Kansas City.

The couple had a son, Peter Verlon, and two daughters, Mary Ella and Barbara. Barbara Knapper graduated from Sumner High School, with honors, and then attended the University of Kansas, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree. She then earned a Master of Arts from Columbia University, New York, and graduated from the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, in church music. Barbara also holds an Educational Specialist Degree and a certificate for Elementary School Principal. She worked for nine years as a third and fourth grade teacher in Kansas City, KS and then worked for 33 years in the Kansas City, MO school system, where she served as Program Director for the Extended Day Kindergarten program. Barbara published a number of articles and was active in a number of professional and civic organizations, such as the Choristers Guild. She married Lenel Mason.

Rev. Thomas Knapper died in 1952; Tillie was 102 when she died in 1977. Barbara Knapper Mason died in 1999.