George Clapp Moves to Illinois from North Carolina

Many other farmers were converging on the Wabash River Valley at the same time the Darnalls were settling in Illinois. Among them were the Clapps

Around 1822, John George Clapp moved his wife, Catherine Kivett of Georgia and ten children to Edgar County, Illinois from North Carolina. John Jr. and Catherine would have five more children in Illinois.

John Jr.'s father, John Philip Clapp, settled in North Carolina, coming from Pennsylvania. John Sr.'s father, George Valentine Clapp, had immigrated from Weisenheim-Berg, Germany in the early 1700s.

One of the ten children to make the move to Illinois was George Clapp, who was about seven years old at the time.

George later married Eliza Jane White in Paris, Illinois. He and Eliza had eleven children*. Although George married a full-blooded Indian after Eliza died and had more children, this story follows only two of Eliza's daughters:

· Margaret Clapp married James Moses Smart.

· Martha Clapp, Margaret's younger sister, married Samuel Darnal, Mary Darnall's nephew.

*Contact Randy C. Smart for the rest of this family genealogy.

The Darnall Footprints in Oklahoma

Samuel and Martha went to Nebraska until at least 1881. However, they must have remained close to James and Margaret because their family showed up very near Clinton, Oklahoma in later years:

In 1898, George Chester Darnall, was married in Washita County, Oklahoma.

In 1905, William Marion Darnall (a politician), had a son named James Floyd Darnall at Foss Lake, Oklahoma.

In 1909, Albert Elias Darnall was a lawyer in Arapaho, Oklahoma.

This is Mandana (Clapp) Henley (Margaret's older sister) and her (Mandana's) children, taken around 1910--probably in or around Longview, Illinois.

[Source: Marion Pafford of Hardesty, OK]

5 x 7 low-resolution file

Hi-res image available by E-mail

These are 2 (of the 8) children of George by Sarah Louisa Ann Brown, whom he married on December 24, 1855 after the death of Eliza Jane White.

More can be learned about the Clapp Family (especially the "Brown" line) by contacting:

--this address/phone is several years old so no guarantees implied here--

Clapp Newsletters 1994 - 1999 - Authored by Dr. Keller

20 volumes on one 144-page 26.5K Acrobat pdf file

 

NOTE:

These newsletters are a wealth of information and worth reading. It is centered on the Brown side of the Clapp line [see above], tied into the White line, and explores the German ancestry common to both. Although not as well-sourced as I would like with pictures of extremely poor resolution (from an archivist point of view), these newsletters lend themselves to sharing what is known about the Clapp line, some good stories, informative maps and pictures.

 

I've cobbled together what may be the whole set and put them into a low-resolution pdf file so I can share them here now. I've reserved space for a lot more Clapp history--I'm waiting for a cousin or two who appreciate the incredible value of well-organized Internet family history, [virtually sharing of originals, direct source linking, etc.] with the time and skill to help me put it all together with as much source documentation as exists.

 

My apologies to the good Dr. Keller for not obtaining his and other's permissions but after receiving no word in over 10 years, I have decided to share this.

 

Care should be used in trying to transcribe intricate genealogy from these newsletters. Better information lies elsewhere. Errors are introduced with transcribing which can be averted by using digital database sharing methods. Contact Ancestor-rescue if you need advice rather than risking the introduction of more typing errors and conflicting un-sourced versions of family histories.

Clapp Family Genealogy Forum

Origins of George's Line - Per Keller

Oct. 6, 1998
Dr. Robert Keller
6175 Blain Place
La Mesa, CA 91942
(619) 667-3796

Dear Family Member,

I have uncovered a lot of new information on our family and have met many interesting people doing research on the Clapp line. An older gentleman in Wilsonville, Oregon told me, after 25 years of research, that he is reasonably certain that our Clapp line originally descended from Osgod Clapa of Denmark. Osgod was the right hand man of the King of Denmark and was the Viking who conquered England around 900 AD. His descendants were famous and wealthy people who helped the English Kings rule England.

Some of these English Clapps bought land, around 1100 AD, in Germany, went there and farmed and rebuilt the castle that was to become known as the Klopp Castle. They were there for about 500 years until the Thirties Year War wiped them out (around the early 1700's). They then came to America, to Penn. in 1728, and soon after that settled in North Carolina (around 1748).

One member of our family, Jan Arteburn of Henderson, Nevada, spent three or more years researching the Clapps of North Carolina and has put together a lineage of how she believes our ancestors were related back then. That lineage can be found on the LDS Family History Centers computers.

Dr. Robert Keller, DC