ARTHUR S. CLAPP, advertising agent
for Parsons' Theater, Hartford, was born in Hartford March 25, 1858, a
son of Caleb Clapp, born in North Hampton, Mass., whose father was born
in North Hampton, May 3, 1787, and died Feb. 22, 1843. He was a lifelong
farmer of prominence in North Hampton. His wife, Maria J. (Hooker), was
born in Milford, Conn., Nov. 20, 1793, and they reared fifteen children,
only one of whom, Harriet, is now living, a resident of Chicago. Roger
Clapp, the first settler of the Clapp family in America, came to Nantasket
in September, 1630.
Caleb Clapp, father of Arthur S., was reared
in North Hampton, where he learned the tailor's trade. Then coming to Hartford
he became proprietor of the "City Hotel," which he conducted for a number
of years, or up to the time of his death. He was a well-known man, took
a prominent pan in the affairs of the city, was a Republican in politics,
and served as a member of the city council. Socially he was affiliated
with the I. O. O. F., but was in no sense of the word a "lodge man," preferring
the quietude of his own home. For many years he was interested with Mr.
Sharp in the livery business, and was also interested in the Shelby Iron
Mines, in Alabama. He married Sarah M. Sexton, born in North Hampton, Mass.,
Jan. 27, 1822, a daughter of Phineas Sexton, born in September, 1771, who
was a man of prominence, a shoemaker by trade, and spent his life in North
Hampton. He married Phoebe Thompson, born Dec. 30, 1770. Mrs. Clapp had
a brother in the Mexican war. Ten children, all sons, were born to Caleb
Clapp and his wife, Arthur S. being the youngest, and three are yet living:
Allen C., with E. C. Kibbe, wholesale grocers; Henry P., in San Francisco;
and Arthur S. The mother died at the age of seventy-seven, on Oct. 18,
1899. The parents were members of the Pearl Street Congregational Church,
in which the father took an active interest. At the time of his death he
was among the oldest business men of Hartford, having come here in 1854.
Arthur S. Clapp spent his early years at home,
was educated in the common schools, and then learned the drug trade. In
1886 he went to Colorado, remained a year, and returned East. For a time
he was employed by Charles F. Adams, and in 1896 he accepted a position
with Parsons' Theater as advertising agent, in which incumbency he has
since continued. He is a member of the Industrial League of the Fourth
Church, and in politics is a Republican. On Sept. 27, 1900, Mr. Clapp married
Nettie Studabaker, of Lucerne, Mo., born in 1863 in Adams county, Indiana.
Howard S. Clapp, brother of Arthur S., was
born in Middletown, Conn., Oct. 21, 1848, attended the common and high
schools, and later graduated, when only eighteen years of age, from Yale
College. He then entered the Berkeley Divinity School, after graduating
from which he was called to the pastorate of Trinity Church at Wethersfield,
being their first pastor. Later he went to Philadelphia, then to St. Paul,
Minn., and for a number of years supplied various churches. He died in
Hartford, Oct. 16, 1898. Another brother, William, was a druggist in Hartford,
having learned the business with Talcott Brothers, and later for a number
of years conducted the City Hotel Drug Store; he died Sept. 21, 1884.
Commemorative
Biographical Record
of
Hartford County,
Connecticut
Illustrated
Chicago
J. H. Beers & Co.
1901
pgs 51 - 52
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