Biographical Sketch of

Edwin O. Clapp

Transcribed by Robert Schieber

Source: Memorial and Biographical Record and Illustrated Compendium of Biography of Citizens of Columbia, 
Sauk and Adams Counties, Wisconsin, published 1901 by G. A. Ogle & Co., Chicago, 1901, Pages 534 - 535

Surnames:  Clapp, Searles, Woolsey, Sherman, Phillips 

Edwin O. Clapp, a native of South Hadley Falls, Massachusetts, born December 20, 1840, has been a resident of Adams 
county since his seventeenth year, and it is but natural for him to be well known in that vicinity, and in view of 
the excellent traits of character which have actuated him throughout his career, it is also natural that he should 
occupy his present high place in the minds of his associates.  He resides on the homestead in Adams township, and 
is surrounded by all that goes to make farm life a pleasant one. 

Mr. Clapp is the son of Edwin H. and Mary A. (Searles) Clapp.  The family resided in Massachusetts many years, and 
the father was a paper maker, and worked in the mills at South Hadley, and was very proficient in his calling.  He 
came to Adams county, Wisconsin, in 1856, and took one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 29, in Adams 
township.  The land at that time was wild, and for the marketing of their grain they drove to Oxford.  The country 
abounded with wild game, and Indians were plentiful.  The father died in Adams township, in 1895, aged eighty-two 
years, and was laid to rest in Friendship.  The mother still survives at the advanced age of eighty-three years, and 
lives on the old home farm with her son, Edwin, our subject.  Four children, three of whom are living, were born to 
this worthy couple, as follows:  Charles, in Gettysburg, South Dakota; Mary, now Mrs. Woolsey, of Easton; and Edwin.

Edwin O. Clapp came to Adams county with his parents when seventeen years of age, and prior to that had attended school 
and obtained a good education.  He assisted in clearing the land, and is now in possession of four hundred acres, with 
one hundred under cultivation, and engages in general farming and stock raising.  He enlisted August, 1862, in Company 
K, Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Infantry, and was under Sherman and accompanied him on his famous march to the sea, thence 
went to Washington and participated in the Grand Review.  He saw hard service, and was in the hospital at Memphis for 
about one month.  After three years of service he was discharged at Memphis, Tennessee, June 24, 1865.  He did not 
once shrink from duty, and was always found with his regiment, ready for whatever came.

Mr. Clapp was married February 6, 1866, to Sarah S. Phillips, daughter of Joseph Phillips, of New York state, who 
settled in Wisconsin in the early days of the history of this state.  Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Clapp, as follows:  Frank, residing in Cranbrook, British Columbia; Lester, in Colfax, Washington; William, working 
with his father on the farm; and Mary Adelaide, at home with her parents.  Mr. Clapp is a member of Badger Post, No. 
122, G. A. R., of Friendship.  In political faith he is a Republican and takes an active interest in the movements 
of his party, but does not seek public office, and prefers to advance the interests of his township and county in 
other ways.  He is public-spirited and progressive and every man who knows him is his friend.


Transcribed by Robert Schieber






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