Josiah Clapham

Born in Virginia, Clapham served as a lieutenant in the Virginia militia beginning in the 1750s.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tvExAQAAMAAJ&dq=Josiah+Clapham&pg=PA72 |title=Virginia County Records |date=1905 |publisher=Genealogical Association |language=en}} Clapham had a variety of business ventures, including a water mill, warehouse, mercantile, and ferry.{{Cite web |title=Northern Virginia History Notes |url=http://www.novahistory.org/Chestnut_Hill.htm |access-date=2023-09-29 |website=www.novahistory.org}}{{Cite web |title=Local Lore The History of Camp Potomac Woods |url=http://www.camptagalong.org/CAMP_TAG-A-LONG/Lore1700s.html |access-date=2023-09-29 |website=www.camptagalong.org}}

In 1757, Clapham was approved with a license to operate the Potomac Crossing Ferry. He convinced the government of Virginia to approve a less expensive toll.{{Cite web |title=Lock 27, Spinks Ferry – C&O Canal Trust |url=https://www.canaltrust.org/pyv/lock-27-spinks-ferry/ |access-date=2023-09-29 |language=en-US}} He was one of the founding trustees of the Town of Leesburg, Virginia in 1758.{{Cite book |last=Neill |first=Edward Duffield |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yi8AAAAAQAAJ&dq=Josiah+Clapham&pg=PA121 |title=The Fairfaxes of England and America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including letters from and to hon. W. Fairfax, and his sons |date=1868 |language=en}} In 1776, Clapham was a delegate to the Fifth Virginia Convention which established its first constitution and the Virginia Declaration of Rights. In 1778, Clapham's ferry license was discontinued.{{cite web |last1=Fiedel |first1=Stuart |last2=Bedell |first2=John |last3=LeeDecker |first3=Charles |date=December 2005 |title=Cohongorooto: The Potomac Above the Falls |url=http://www.npshistory.com/publications/choh/aie-v1-2005.pdf |access-date=December 9, 2021 |website=National Park Service History eLibrary}}{{cite web |last1=Edwards |first1=David A. |last2=Salmon |first2=John S. |date=January 31, 1989 |title=Catoctin Rural Historic District NRHP Nomination |url=https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/053-0012_Catoctin_Rural_Historic_District_1988_FINAL_Nomination.pdf |access-date=December 9, 2021 |website=Virginia Department of Historic Resources}} Clapham served as a member of the House of Burgesses from 1771 to 1779 and as a member of the Virginia General Assembly from 1779 to 1788.Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 98, 100, 103, 106{{Cite book |last=Head |first=James William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bzoSAAAAYAAJ&dq=Josiah+Clapham&pg=PA125 |title=History and Comprehensive Description of Loudoun County, Virginia |date=1908 |publisher=Park view Press |language=en}} During the American Revolutionary War, Clapham served as a colonel and member of the Loudoun County Committee of Safety.{{Cite book |last=Boogher |first=William Fletcher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2IkRaBYGgmYC&dq=Josiah+Clapham&pg=PA220 |title=Gleanings of Virginia History: An Historical and Genealogical Collection, Largely from Original Sources |date=1965 |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com |isbn=978-0-8063-0048-1 |language=en}}

In 1779, Clapham purchased the 200-acre Chestnut Hill estate in Loudoun County, Virginia. In 1790, Clapham was one of the first trustees of Matildaville, Virginia.Nan Netherton Netherton, Donald Sweig, Jancie Artemel, Patricia Hickin and Patrick Read, Fairfax County, Virginia: a History (Fairfax: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, 1978) p. 206 Clapham died in 1803.

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Category:1803 deaths

Category:People from colonial Virginia