Derastus Clapp
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Derastus Clapp (May 1, 1792 – June 1, 1881) was head of the first city
detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...
bureau in the United States, located in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts. He was appointed to the office of
constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
by the elderly Mayor Josiah Quincy in 1828, and was reappointed every succeeding year to 1874. In 1848, he was promoted to be one of the first detectives in the city.Lane 61 Clapp is most noted for his role in the arrest and prosecution of
John White Webster John White Webster (May 20, 1793 – August 30, 1850) was an American professor of chemistry and geology at Harvard Medical College. In 1850, he was convicted of murder in the Parkman–Webster murder case and hanged. Biography Born in Bo ...
for the murder of George Parkman.


Biography

Clapp was born in
Claremont, New Hampshire Claremont is the only city in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 12,949 at the 2020 census. History Pre-colonial native populations Before colonial settlement, the Upper Connecticut River Valley was home to the Pe ...
, but soon moved to Boston, after his marriage to Susannah Bowditch of
Braintree, Massachusetts Braintree (), officially the Town of Braintree, is a municipality in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a towBraintree is a city, with a mayor-council government, mayor-council form of government, and i ...
on February 15, 1818. He established an auction house, over which he presided for several years before he was appointed to the office of constable for the City of Boston in 1828. In 1832 and 1836, he was also captain of a ward
militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
company. According to an interview in the ''
Boston Traveller The ''Boston Evening Traveller'' (1845–1967) was a newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts. It was a daily newspaper, with weekly and semi-weekly editions under a variety of ''Traveller'' titles. It was absorbed by the ''Boston Herald'' i ...
'' on October 26, 1874, Clapp stated that "136 prisoners arrested by him were sent to the State Prison, and several hundred to the House of Correction, and that many thousand dollars worth of stolen property have been recovered by him and restored to its owners."Clapp 81 He gained renown during his tenure as constable as "a successful detecter icof crime"Clapp, 82 whose name would conjure "dread...among those who had reason to fear an arrest." There were reports that he would instill fear in the guilty without even approaching them. In 1850, most of the dread was harbored by school-aged children, as he was also an appointed
truant Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorised, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will (though sometimes adults or parents will allow and/or ignore it) and usually does not refe ...
officer. He and his assistant literally carried hundreds of children from all parts of the city back to the
public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
system.Clapp 82 In 1849, Clapp caught his "big break". A prestigious member of the
Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins or Boston elite are members of Boston's traditional upper class. They are often associated with Harvard University; Anglicanism; and traditional Anglo-American customs and clothing. Descendants of the earliest English colonis ...
s was reported missing. Clapp's role in the investigation of the disappearance of Dr. George Parkman propelled him into international fame. His fame was short-lived, however, and in 1854, Boston established its first uniformed police force, with Constable Clapp as its less prominent member. His sole concern was ticketing illegally parked traffic on State Street and serving orders of notice issued by the City Clerk. In January 1874, a
muscle tear A strain is an acute or chronic soft tissue injury that occurs to a muscle, tendon, or both. The equivalent injury to a ligament is a sprain. Generally, the muscle or tendon overstretches and partially tears, under more physical stress than ...
in his right leg disabled him, but he continued his duties until October of that year. He retired on October 1, 1874 after 46 years of service.


Derastus Clapp and the disappearance of Dr. Parkman

During 1849-50, Derastus Clapp participated in the investigation of the disappearance of Dr. George Parkman and the subsequent arrest and trial of Professor
John White Webster John White Webster (May 20, 1793 – August 30, 1850) was an American professor of chemistry and geology at Harvard Medical College. In 1850, he was convicted of murder in the Parkman–Webster murder case and hanged. Biography Born in Bo ...
for the murder of Parkman. Clapp's experience before this event was centered on less heinous crimes, such as
burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...
and
counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
ing, and he was initially unprepared for the demands required when dealing with
homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
among the Boston elite. November 23, 1849, was the last day Dr. Parkman was seen. Parkman's family notified Charles M. Kingsley, Parkman's business manager, that the doctor never returned home for lunch. The next day, November 24, he began a search of the city along with a half dozen police officers and a group of concerned citizens. The search continued as the family posted notices offering a reward of $3,000 for information related to Parkman's disappearance. Based on information acquired during the search, on November 26, 1849, Clapp, in addition to Kingsley and other officers, began focusing on the Harvard Medical College and surrounding areas. During the search of the college, Clapp made his deference to the upper class apparent. According to trial testimony by Mr. Kinsley, Clapp stated to Professor Webster that he was just following orders and no one in the college was a suspect. Clapp's hesitancy during the search is also on record. While searching Webster's laboratory, he started opening a door to a small room. When Webster told him that he kept his valuable and dangerous articles there, Mr. Clapp put his head as far as the door and turned back again, saying, "I will not go in to be blowed up." As the investigation continued, and suspicion fell on the college as the scene of the crime, Clapp became more aggressive. The college's janitor, Ephraim Littlefield, had been conducting his own investigation, and found what were later to be identified as Dr. Parkman's remains under Webster's private privy. On November 30, a week after Parkman's disappearance, Clapp was again called to the college, where he was the first to view Littlefield's gruesome discovery. He was dispatched to Webster's house to make the arrest. Clapp was not going to be made the fool twice. Having experience with the "rogues" of Boston, Clapp called upon his "devious Yankee" skills to lure the professor out of his house and into jail. He took a coach and two other officers for back-up and rode to
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
to the Webster residence.Bemis 155; Stone 89; Journal 26; Globe 37 Leaving the coach and the other officers parked away from the house, Clapp approached Webster on his porch as he was escorting out a visitor. He requested Webster accompany him to the college to perform another search. Webster went back inside to get his hat and coat, but when he saw the coach and other officers, he suddenly remembered his keys. Clapp deterred his efforts to return to the house and told him they had keys enough to get in, "it was of no consequence." Webster boarded silently as Clapp instructed the driver to go over
Craigie's Bridge The Charles River Dam Bridge, officially the Craigie Bridge, also called Craigie's Bridge or the Canal Bridge, is a six-lane bascule bridge across the Charles River in the West End neighborhood of Boston. The bridge, maintained by the Massachus ...
, where the police had been searching the waters earlier. After a few minutes of desultory conversation, Clapp broached the subject of the search efforts for the doctor and the progress the police had made. Webster confessed he had seen Dr. Parkman the week prior at the college, but the doctor had left the campus, still alive. During their conversation, the coach turned on to Brighton Street, and Webster became very agitated. "The driver is going the wrong way." Clapp tried to calm him by telling him the driver was "probably green" and would get it straightened out. When they stopped in front of the jail, Webster knew something was wrong. "What does this all mean?"Bemis 155; Stone 89; Journal 26; Globe 38 Clapp escorted him into the jail and charged him with the murder of Dr. George Parkman. Detective Clapp and the other officers continued their efforts while Webster was incarcerated. On December 5, 1849, Clapp executed a warrant to search the Webster house, meticulously and overtly following proper procedures during the course of the search. Evidence acquired during the search provided motive for the court to proceed in the prosecution of Professor John White Webster. Although Derastus Clapp retired from the police force in 1874, he continued to serve in public office and retained his notoriety. In 1896, fifteen years after his death, a small paragraph in an Ohio paper noted:
They have extremely venerable policeman in Boston, Mr. Derastus Clapp. Who is ninety years old, has been in the department about forty-four years, and is at present in the special service of the board of street commissioners.Steubenville Daily Herald 7


Notes


References

*''Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court'' *Amory, Cleveland. ''The Proper Bostonians''. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1947 *The Athens Messenger 18 November 1880, Athens: Ohio *Bemis, George.
Report of the Case of John W. Webster
'. Boston: Little, Brown, 1850 *Borowitz, Albert.

'66 ABAJ 1540-45 (1980) *Borowitz, Albert. ''A Gallery of Sinister Perspectives: Ten Crimes and a Scandal''. Kent State University Press, 1982 *Boston Daily Advertiser, 08 Feb 1820, 28:58, Boston, Massachusetts *Clapp, Ebenezer.
Clapp Memorial: Record of the Clapp Family in America
'. Boston: Clapp & Sons, 1876 *Davis, William Thomas.
Memories of an Octogenarian
'. Plymouth, MA: Bittinger, 1906 *Dempewolff, Richard. ''Famous New England Murders''. Brattleboro, VT: Steven Daye Press, 1942. *Dilnot, George. ''The Trial of Professor John White Webster''. New York: Scribner, 1928 *Ferdinand, Theodore N. "''The Criminal Patterns of Boston Since 1849''." The American Journal of Sociology 73.1 (1967): 84-99. *Holmes, Sr., Oliver Wendell "''The Brahmin Caste of New England''," Atlantic Monthly in 1860. *Lane, Roger. ''Policing in the City: Boston 1822-1885''. Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press, 1967 *Roberts, Oliver Ayer. ''History of History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts, Vol. III'' Boston: Mudge & Son, 1898 *Shimer, William Allison. ''The American Scholar''. Virginia: University of Virginia, 1945 *Steubenville Daily Herald Ohio: Steubenville *Stone, James W.
Report of the Trial of John W. Webster
'. Boston: Holden, 1850 *Story, Ronald. ''Harvard and the Boston Brahmins: A Study in Institutional and Class Development, 1800-1865''. Journal of Social History 8.3 (1975) *Sullivan, Robert. ''The Disappearance of Dr. Parkman''. Boston: Little, Brown, 1971. *Vinton, John Adams. ''The Vinton Memorial''. Boston: Whipple, 1858 *Webster, John W. and The Boston Journal. ''The Trial of Prof. John W. Webster Indicted for the Murder of Dr. George Parkman''. Boston: Redding & Company, 1850 *Webster, John W. and The New York Globe. ''Trial of Professor John W. Webster for the Murder of Doctor George Parkman''. New York: Stringer & Townsend, 1850. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clapp, Derastus 1792 births 1881 deaths History of Boston Trials in the United States American police detectives People from Boston People from Claremont, New Hampshire