Josiah Clapham (also spelled Josias; died 1803) was a colonial merchant, military officer, and politician in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

who served as a member of the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...

and later the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

, representing

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg, Virgi ...

Biography

Born in Virginia, Clapham served as a lieutenant in the Virginia militia beginning in the 1750s. Clapham had a variety of business ventures, including a water mill, warehouse, mercantile, and ferry. 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. He was one of the founding trustees of the Town of

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is part of both the Northern Virginia region of the state and the Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. European se ...

in 1758. In 1776, Clapham was a delegate to the

Fifth Virginia Convention The Fifth Virginia Convention was a meeting of the Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot legislature of Colony of Virginia, Virginia held in Williamsburg, Virginia, Williamsburg from May 6 to July 5, 1776. This Convention declared Virginia an ind ...

which established its first

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

and the

Virginia Declaration of Rights The Virginia Declaration of Rights was drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to reform or abolish "inadequate" government. It influenced a number of later documents, including the United States Declaratio ...

. In 1778, Clapham's ferry license was discontinued. 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. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, Clapham served as a colonel and member of the Loudoun County Committee of Safety. In 1779, Clapham purchased the 200-acre Chestnut Hill estate in

Loudoun County, Virginia Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg. Loudoun County ...

. In 1790, Clapham was one of the first trustees of

Matildaville, Virginia Matildaville is a ghost town located along the Patowmack Canal near present day Great Falls, Virginia, Great Falls, Virginia, United States. It was named for the wife of Henry Lee III, Light Horse Harry Lee, on 40 acres of land owned at the time ...

.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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clapham, Josiah 1803 deaths People from colonial Virginia