Researching
America’s first transportation industry isn’t always an easy task. The whole process can be extremely
time-consuming and exasperating; cold trails running this way and that...
hearsay, rumors, misinformation, dead ends and mysteries running rampant. Truth is, so much of what once was common
knowledge has passed into a hard-to-track category so vague, unfamiliar, and
fruitless, we often label it as a four-letter word... Lost. It’s a box canyon we’re continually fighting
our way through and, along the way, celebrating when another piece of the
puzzle is found.
One
of the portals offering insights and clues into days-gone-by is that of
obituaries. While it might seem a bit on
the morbid side at first, these period documents can contain life overviews that
are otherwise difficult to find. Inside
those information particulars, it’s not unusual to come across nuggets that help
define, date, and even authenticate vehicles.
With tens of thousands of carriage and wagon makers dotting the American
landscape, we’ll never get to the bottom of the history of each one but, our
ultimate goal is to help introduce enough folks to these stories that we save
as much of our past as possible.
 |
This factory illustration shows the E.D. Clapp factory in the late 1880’s |
To
that point, E.D. Clapp (Emerous Donaldson Clapp) may not be very well-known to
many of today’s early vehicle enthusiasts.
Nonetheless, he and his businesses were an important part of America’s
horse-drawn vehicle world during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From wagon-making to manufacturing carriage
and saddlery hardware, hauling coal, and running stage lines, Mr. Clapp was an
instrumental force in our first transportation industry.
In
an effort to share a bit more about this seldom-profiled manufacturer, I
thought we’d take a look at the legacy of the man through the words published
after his death in the July 1889 issue of The
Hub. The story was originally
written for The Bulletin in Auburn,
New York in that same month...
“The deceased
was born at Ira, this country, November 12, 1829, and was consequently 60 years
of age. He was educated at the district
school and at Falley Seminary, at Fulton.
In 1851 he moved to Ira and built a small shop and began the manufacture
of farm wagons and other vehicles. He
continued doing business in Ira for four years, employing six men and turning
out about twenty-five wagons per year, besides a number of light
carriages. In 1855 he leased his wagon
shop and began running a stage line between Oswego and Auburn, carrying a daily
mail from that year up to 1880. He was
uncommonly successful in bidding for mail carrying contracts, and until 1865
gave the greater share of his attention to carrying out and sub letting the
same.
In 1856, when
Auburn contained only 7,000 inhabitants, he removed here, and has since been
one of the most active and successful businessmen in the community. He carried on a livery business on Garden and
State streets, for several years until 1867, when he sold out and concentrated
all his energies in the manufacturing business.
In 1864, he leased a small shop on Mechanic street, and having a patent
on a thill coupling for vehicles he began manufacturing the same. This was the first institution which
manufactured carriage hardware in Auburn, and, as time progressed it grew to be
one of the largest factories of the kind in the United States. The business grew to such proportions that in
1867 it was removed to a new factory on Water street, the firm name being Clapp,
Fitch & Co. In 1873, Mr. Fitch retired,
and the business was continued by Mr. Clapp and F. Van Patten, under the firm
name of E.D. Clapp & Co. In 1873 the
site on the corner of Genesee and Division streets, now occupied by the large
shops of the company, was presented to the firm, and sufficient money was
subscribed to build the foundation of the present factory. In 1876 the business was incorporated under
the name of E. D. Clapp Mfg. Co., with a paid up capital of $150,000. In 1880 Mr. Clapp organized the Auburn
Wrought-Iron Bit and Iron Co., with a capital of $60,000, and in the same year
the E.D. Clapp Wagon Co. Limited, turning out the first wagon in April
1881. The company have also done an
extensive business in coal, handling from 15,000 to 20,000 tons a year. The various shops under the management of Mr.
Clapp at the time of his death gave employment to about 600 hands...”
 |
The E.D. Clapp Wagon Company Limited built its first wagon in 1881. This rare, surviving card was created to promote the brand’s offerings of iron axle and thimble skein wagons. |
Filled
with dates and other business details, Mr. Clapp’s obituary provides an
abundance of leads, helping fill in the gaps of this part of history. We know from other sources that, in 1876, Mr.
Clapp and his business partner, Frederick Van Patten, were awarded another
patent for a quiet, non-rattling thill coupling. We also know that the company produced a variety
of vehicles, including farm, freight, coal, lumber, and ice wagons as well as
bob sleighs. They ceased building wagons
around 1890, focusing on the expertise they had gained in the drop forging
industry. Even so, the same “Auburn” brand and logo was carried on by the
Auburn Wagon Company first in Greencastle, Pennsylvania and then moving to
Martinsburg, West Virginia, with its charter there issued in March of 1897.
E.D.
Clapp’s firm was sold in 1958, marking the first time in more than a century that
it was not owned by a member of the Clapp family. Over the decades, the company had provided
hundreds of thousands of hardware parts for buggies built by a host of
legendary builders. Included among those
parts were fifth wheels, axle clips, king bolts, clevises, shaft couplings,
doubletree clevises and staples, spring clips, shaft and pole eyes, and more.
During
the Civil War, they provided forgings for guns as well as for wagons. They supplied additional hardware for wagons
in the Spanish-American War. Likewise,
during WWI, WWII, and the Korean War they provided forgings for trucks, tanks,
planes, warships, torpedoes, and countless other military needs.
Today,
too many folks walk by the old wheels of yesterday, passing off the silent
survivors and never asking what real history they’re connected to or hold. Each is filled with information and the
stories they tell help us reassemble the road map to our past. Most of the time, we only scratch the surface
when we examine a vehicle’s provenance.
Digging a little deeper, though, can add greatly to our appreciation of
the past while enriching the present and passing along an important heritage to
future generations.
Please Note: As with each of our blog writings, all imagery and text is copyrighted with All Rights Reserved. The material may not be broadcast, published, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written permission from David E. Sneed, Wheels That Won The West® Archives, LLC
