Harvey Spaulding Clapp

Harvey Spaulding Clapp was born in Moretown, Vermont, in 1817 to Rufus Clapp and Wealthy Parkhurst Spaulding.

He traveled extensively throughout the Great Lakes as a marble salesman and kept a diary, which, although it consists almost entirely of mundane business transactions, shows him to have possessed an extraordinary intellect.  The diary, written in the summer of 1847, follows Harvey from his home in Moretown, Vermont, through New York, Northern Ohio, Michigan, and as far as Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Harvey Clapp's diary

One fascinating feature of the diary is that he wrote some pages in backwards script – decoding the journal required extensive use of a mirror!

Harvey married Jane Abigail Vandercook in Genesee County, New York, on September 21st, 1849 (shortly after the trip that he documented in his diary).  Harvey and Jane eventually moved to Indiana, and had four children:

• Moses Edwin Vail Clapp, born on May 21st, 1851.
• Hiram Clapp, born in 1853.
• William Rufus Clapp, born in 1862.
• Lucy Spaulding Clapp.

A page from Harvey Clapp's diary

The 1850 US census lists Harvey as a farmer, apparently living with the Vandercook family in Indiana.  In the 1860 census he is listed as “Dept Register” – he held various minor public offices throughout his life.  By 1880 the Clapps had moved to Star Prairie, Wisconsin, and Harvey is listed as a real estate dealer.

Harvey Spaulding Clapp died in 1889 and was buried in St. Croix, Wisconsin.

portrait of Senator Moses Clapp

Moses Edwin Vail Clapp was born on May 21st, 1851 in Delphi, Indiana, son of Harvey Spaulding Clapp and Jane Abigail Clapp (nee Vandercook).  He went to law school at the University of Wisconsin.  At age 23, Moses married Harriet “Hattie” Allen of Indiana.

Moses and Hattie Clapp had four children:

• Catrina Clapp, born in 1880.
• Harvey Spaulding Clapp II, born November 19th, 1881 in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
• Ella Grace Clapp, born in 1889.
• Hattie Alice Clapp.

Senator Clapp speaks at the Grant County Fair

Moses was elected County attorney of St. Croix County in Wisconsin in 1875, and six years later he was elected to the position of city attorney of Fergus Falls Minnesota.  He was captain of the state militia from 1882 – 1884. At age 34 he was elected Attorney General of Minnesota, and held that office until 1890.  He practiced law after that, and in 1901 was elected to the Minnesota senate after the death of Senator Cushman Davis.  Moses was relected in 1904 and 1910, and served in the senate until 1917.

A 1901 article about Senator Clapp

Moses was a memorable figure – he was well-liked by those who knew him and was highly respected by his peers in public service.  He was a strong advocate for minority rights.  The Sioux indians inducted him into their tribe for his help in presenting their cause to the senate.  Women’s Suffragists honored him many times for his tireless advocacy for the rights of women.  And political attackers often described him as a “friend of the negro”.

Senator Moses Clapp died on March 6th, 1920.  He was buried in Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Maryland.

Charles was born in Watertown, New York on July 5th, 1834, and died on April 30th 1897.  He married Georgiana Derby on August 25th, 1827.  His company is listed in the The Boston Almanac and Business Directory for 1883.