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Roger Clapp (1609–1690) was an early English colonist who settled in

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...

and served as a military and political leader in early colonial Massachusetts. Roger Clapp was born in 1609 in Salcombe Regis,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England and became a devout

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

Christian and emigrated to

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as ...

in 1629/30 on the ''

Mary and John ''Mary and John'' was a 400-ton ship that is known to have sailed between England and the American colonies four times from 1607 to 1633. She was during the later voyages captained by Robert Davies and owned by Roger Ludlow (1590–1664), one of th ...

'', and then stopped in

Nantasket Nantasket Beach is a beach in the town of Hull, Massachusetts. It is part of the Nantasket Beach Reservation, administered by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. The shore has fine, light gray sand and is one of the busiest bea ...

in 1630, before eventually settling in

. In 1633 in Dorchester, Massachusetts Clapp married Joanna Ford, a daughter of Thomas Ford, with her, he had fourteen children. Clapp served for many years as Lieutenant and then Captain of the Dorchester militia based at Castle Island, one of the first military forts in the original thirteen colonies. Clapp also was a member of the

Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts is the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the third oldest chartered military organization in the world. Its charter was granted in March 1638 by the Great and Gen ...

. Clapp was elected as a Deputy (Representative) to the legislature from Dorchester. Clapp retired from the militia in 1686 and died in 1690 and was buried in

King's Chapel Burying Ground King's Chapel Burying Ground is a historic graveyard on Tremont Street, near its intersection with School Street, in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1630, it is the oldest graveyard in the city and is a site on the Freedom Trail. Despite ...

in Boston. He left large tracts of land to his family, including parcels in Dorcester and

Ponkapoag Ponkapoag , also Punkapaug, Punkapoag, or Punkapog, is the name of a Native American "praying town" settled in the late 17th century western Blue Hills area of eastern Massachusetts by persons who had accepted Christianity. It was established in ...

, near the Native American

Praying town Praying towns were a settlements established by British colonization of the Americas, English colonial governments in New England from 1646 to 1675 in an effort to convert local Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans to Christiani ...

. Clapp wrote an autobiography detailing his settlement in America. Clapp's descendant Lemuel Clapp constructed the

Captain Lemuel Clap House The Captain Lemuel Clap House (1767) is a historic house located at 199 Boston Street, Dorchester, Massachusetts. It is now owned by the Dorchester Historical Society, which opens the house for tours two afternoons per month. It is one of two ...

on the location of Roger Clapp's original 1633 homestead in Dorchester, possibly incorporating parts of the original homestead into the building.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clapp, Roger 1609 births 1690 deaths 17th-century English people People of colonial Massachusetts Military personnel from Devon English emigrants to the United States People from East Devon District