Byrd Clapsaddle

1843-1918

Byrd Clapsaddle, ca. 1910 Byrd Clapsaddle, born in March of 1843 in Warren County, Virginia, was the third child and eldest son of Jacob Clapsaddle (ca.1793-1849) and Nancy Foley (ca.1805-ca.1874). The other siblings were Bertha (b.ca.1842) and Marcus A (b.ca.1845). Byrd was born and raised on the family farm near Passage Creek. Little is known of Byrd's father, Jacob, except that he was a land owner on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River when Warren County was formed from Shenandoah and Frederick Counties in 1837. The 1837 Land Book for Warren County lists Jacob Clapsaddle with 71 acres near "Pine Hills" (also known as Guard Hill), 8 miles north from the Court House. The Pine Hills area was located just north of the North Fork and west of present day Rt. 340. Two Frederick County deeds place him in the area by 17 May 1828, when he is conveyed a tract of land on West Run by Robert S. McKay.

Jacob Clapsaddle came originally from Pennsylvania, as did many of the German families that settled the Shenandoah Valley. He is believed to be the son of George Michael Clapsaddle (1750-1843) of Peter's Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. During the Revolutionary War, George served with his brothers John and Michael under Capt. Walter McKinnie in the 4th Militia Battalion from Cumberland County.(1) By 1781 he was a freeman in Peter's Township. In his Franklin County will dated 16 Oct 1824 and recorded 28 Jan 1835, George states that he had made an advance payment to his three sons and three daughters. The brothers George, John and Jacob each received $1700, a considerable sum by the standards of the day. With this stake in hand, Jacob apparently traveled south into the fertile Shenandoah Valley in search of good affordable farm land.

Originally spelled Klebsattel, the surname was associated with the Northern Kraichgau region in the German Palatinate. The Northern Kraichgau consisted of some 85 towns within the northern part of the old Grand Dutchy of Baden, including Zaisenhausen, Eppingin, Ittlingin and Kürnbach. In Eppingen on the Metzgergasse (butcher's street) is a house with a cornerstone bearing the name of Sigmund Klebsattel and dated 1573.(2) The Pennsylvania Clapsaddles trace their ancestry back to Frantz (Francis) Klebsattel (1702-ca.1770) whose birth place, Zaisenhausen, is located in Sinsheim Kreis (county). Frantz (age 32), his wife Rosina (age 34), sons Michael "Migel" (age 9) and John George "Hans Jerick" (age 7), and probably several children under age who travelled free and went unlisted, arrived at Philadelphia, on 28 Aug 1733 from Rotterdam by way of Cowes, aboard the ship Hope of London, Daniel Reid, Master.(3) Also on that date, Frantz swore his oath to the government and affixed his signature to a list in the presence of Lt. Governor Patrick Gordon at the Philadelphia court house.(4) A second signature is affixed to the passenger list for the ship Hope. Both signatures give the surname spelling as "Klebsattel".

Clapsaddle Ancestral Tree

In September of 1734, the immigrant Francis Clapsaddle and a group of German neighbors were provoked into an attack on the High Sheriff of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Robert Buchanan. As a result, a £20 gold bounty was placed on his head by Pennsylvania authorities. This altercation was the result of on-going border disputes between Pennsylvania & Maryland in which gangs of Pennsylvanians with the connivance of the Pennsylvania authorities made forays into Maryland, burning settler's houses and hauling the inhabitants to jail. Sheriff Buchanan had entered the Monocacy area of Frederick County, Maryland and arrested a Jacob Loughman for a supposed unpaid debt. Loughman lived two miles south of Little Codorus Creek, within a hundred yards of the main wagon road. Francis and his companions freed Loughman and took the Sheriff to the home of Maryland Capt. Thomas Cresap.(5)

Byrd Clapsaddle's mother, Nancy Foley, was the daughter of Selby Foley and Rachel Levesque who were married in Shenandoah County on January 13, 1786. Foley is of Scotch-Irish stock, and Levesque (pronounced "Le-vek") is most likely of French Heugonot (protestant) origin. Selby Foley lived on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River below the mouth of Passage Creek, but owned land in both Shenandoah and Frederick Counties prior to the formation of Warren. Selby received Northern Neck land grants in this area from Lord Fairfax in 1780 and 1788. He was at one time Deputy Sheriff of Shenandoah County. He was also a Revolutionary War patriot whose signature is affixed to a document protesting the actions of the British at Boston and establishing a voluntary company of Shenandoah County militia.(6)

Nancy Foley was married, and widowed, twice. She first married Rudolph Hammock on March 13, 1832, in Frederick County. They had three children, half-siblings of Byrd, who were named Sarah, William and John. Rudolph died some time between 1838 and 1840. Nancy then married for a second time to Jacob Clapsaddle sometime between 1838 and 1841. Jacob died in 1849.

C.S.A. Battle Flag On June 18, 1861, Byrd enlisted at Front Royal, Virginia for service in Company E (Mountain Rangers), 7th Virginia (Turner Ashby's) Cavalry for a period of 12 months.(7) He reenlisted on May 1, 1862 at Conrad's Store in the same outfit for the duration of the war. In mid-September 1862, the 2nd, 6th, 7th and 12th regiments, and the 17th Battalion of Virginia cavalry were organized into the now famous Laurel Brigade.(8) Byrd was captured by the enemy on September 29, 1864 at Port Republic (he was also reported captured at Stannardsville), and exchanged on March 17, 1865 at Aiken's Landing after arriving from the prisoner of war camp at Point Lookout, Maryland. Byrd was eventually paroled on April 25, 1865 at Winchester, Virginia. In his parole certificate he is described as age 23, 6'0" in height, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. C.S.A. Letter, 1863

His Bay horse, which he brought with him when he enlisted, was killed in action at Greenland, Hardy County Virginia on April 25, 1862, and he subsequently placed a claim for $400 to the Confederate Army. He was reimbursed for his loss by Capt. Robert S. Ashby on August 20, 1863 near Culpeper Court House (now the town of Culpeper).(9) In a post script at the bottom of the document, is a note testifying that "Private B. Clapsaddle is a good soldier, but a poor man, and will not be able to remount himself unless paid for his horse killed in action," and it is signed Thos. H. Buck, Capt. Co. E.

Byrd's name is listed, amongst others who served in his unit, on a bronze tablet located on the south side of the Confederate Monument at the Warren County Courthouse in Front Royal, Virginia. He was also a committee member for the unveiling of the Mosby Monument in Prospect Hill Cemetery in Front Royal, which was dedicated to the memory of the Rangers executed by Federal forces while prisoners of war on September 23, 1864.(10) The dedication and unveiling was held on the 25th anniversary of this inauspicious event, September 23, 1899.

On October 29, 1868, Byrd married Hannah Margaret Hottel (1844-1920), daughter of Jacob Hottel and Julia Ann Ramey. The Hottels were a prominent Shenandoah County family of German descent. According to the Hottel Family history book,(11) following the war, Byrd and Hannah began their life together in a log cabin located on a farm along the north fork of the Shenandoah River, a few miles above Riverton. Two years later they purchased another small farm in the same area west of Front Royal near Buckton and Passage Creek. It is at this place where they reared their children. According to the 1900 Federal census for Warren County, they owned and operated a farm in the Fork District. In a deed dated January 5, 1923,(12) the "Byrd Clapsaddle Farm," containing 42 acres, was sold by the heirs of Margaret Clapsaddle, deceased, to Nettie M. Summers (daughter of Byrd) and her husband for a price of $1200 cash paid to the other heirs of Byrd Clapsaddle (her brothers and sisters). A survey plat is included with this deed showing the farm to be near the Totten dwelling at the corner of the state road to Riverton and the road to Bethel, adjacent to Warren Springs. The farm house is no longer standing.

Clapsaddle Farm, ca. 1910 Clapsaddle Farm, ca. 1910. Byrd Clapsaddle is standing second from the left surrounded by his children, from the left, Boyd, Clarence (?), Nettie, Emma and Sallie.


Byrd died on December 9, 1918, of arteriosclerosis, at his home near Front Royal, and Hannah died two years later on October 6, 1920. They are buried at Bennett's Chapel (Methodist) cemetery on Route 619, south west of Front Royal.


Children of Byrd & Hannah Margaret Clapsaddle

  1. Nancy Kate "Nannie" Clapsaddle (b.1869) Married J. N. Tewalt.
  2. Elton Virginia Clapsaddle (1871-1940) Married William Thomas Ridgway on December 26, 1893 in Warren County, Virginia. Moved to Savage, Maryland in 1913. They are both buried in the Savage Cemetery. They had seven children, Millie Blanche, Effie May, Herbert Bryan, Brocket Boyd, Helen Elizabeth, Mabel Arbutus and Catherine Virginia.
  3. Albert Berton Clapsaddle (1872-1962) Married Stella Rockwood and moved to Washington County Pennsylvania, where he was a carpenter and contractor. They had at least two children, Grace Florence and Mildred Rockwood.
  4. Boyd Selvey Clapsaddle (b.1874-AFT 1940) Born in Frederick County, Virginia, he married Edna Robinson Vincent on August 4, 1909 in Warren County. They moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania. He was a foreman with a gas company in Donora, Pennsylvania. They had five children, Boyd Selvey, Jr., Harold Butler, Estella Virginia, Margaret Rebecca and Phylis Irene.
  5. Lucy Grace Clapsaddle (1876-1878)
  6. Emma Julia Clapsaddle (1878-AFT 1923) Married Charles T. Hall on September 22, 1904 in Virginia. Children unknown.
  7. Sarah Trifenia "Sallie" Clapsaddle (1882-AFT 1940) Married John J. Hoffman on January 5, 1921 in Warren County, Virginia. Children unknown.
  8. Clarence William Clapsaddle (1886-AFT 1940) Married Violet Carper on May 11, 1916, and moved to Roanoke, Virginia. Children unknown.
  9. Nettie Margaret Clapsaddle (b.1892) Married Henry Edwin Summers of Washington, D.C. on September 9, 1920. They purchased the Clapsaddle Farm near Riverton, Virginia in 1923. Children unknown.


Footnotes

1. Virginia S. Fendrick, American Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin County Pennsylvania, (Historical Works Committee of the Franklin County Chapter DAR, Chambersburg, PA), p. 55.

2. Records of H. Andrew Brown, Los Angeles, CA.

3. From Collections of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727-1776, I.D. Rupp, 1876, 1931 and Pennsylvania Pioneers: A Publication of Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808, R.B. Strassburger and W.J. Hinke, Pennsylvania German Society, 1934.

4. From the Minutes of the Provincial Council, Pennsylvania Colonial Records, Vol. III, p. 517, copies on file.

5. Proceedings of the Council of Maryland 1732-1734, Published by the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, W.H. Browne, Ed., 1908.

6. From notes of Mrs. Leslie E. Good, Santmyers Collection, Warren Heritage Society Archives, Front Royal, VA.

7. Confederate Compiled Service Records, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

8. 7th Virginia Cavalry, by Richard L. Armstrong, H. E. Howard, Lynchburg, VA, 1992.

9. reference 2, photographic reproduction of original document in possession of author.

10. Tombstone Inscriptions, Prospect Hill Cemetery, Front Royal Virginia, And other Warren County Vicinities, by Duane L. Borden, Yates Publishing Co., Ozark, MO, 1985.

11. History of the Descendants of John Hottel, Hottel-Keller Memorial, Inc., Toms Brook, VA, 1992.

12. Warren County Land Records, Deed Book 27, Page 242, County Court House, Front Royal, VA.