Jason Clapp Esq Biography 1782 – 1868
Jason Clapp Portrait circa 1858
[summarized with excerpts from The New York Coach-Maker’s Magazine 1858 and other sources]
BORN: Northampton, Mass., Nov. 5th, 1782
DIED: 1868
FATHER: Ebenezer Clapp, Northampton, Mass.
MOTHER: Ann Tileston, Dorchester, Mass.
CHILDREN: At least one son who worked in his father’s firm
EDUCATION: Attended school until the age of 17.
1799 – Apprenticed in the carriage-making shop of James Dunham. “He received as his wages only eight dollars a year, in addition to his board, and, on the conclusion of his apprenticeship, was in debt to a relative $60 for necessary clothing, which he soon paid.”
1804 – Foreman at Lemuel Pomeroy, Esq. Pittsfield carriage manufactory for six years
1810 – Opens his own shop in Pittsfield and first manufactured Boston chaises and then Phaetons and ribbed wagons by 1858 light carriages, buggies, and “the most costly coaches” were the carriages being manufactured fetching $1,500 for the most costly coaches.
1815 – 1840 – “Engaged in the stage business, and for many years was contractor for carrying the great mail between Boston and Albany.”
185? – Manufactures a carriage for President Pierce
“Some of his hands have continued steadily in his employ for more than forty years, and this remarkable fact has no doubt served to secure the reputation, which his work has enjoyed. The number of men usually employed has varied from 40 to 50. It is also worthy of notice, that no man of the hundreds he has employed ever left him feeling that the employer had not fulfilled every obligation he entered into.”
“The marked success of Mr. C. in his business is to be attributed to his untiring industry, superior judgment, and keen perception, and a rigid adherence to the glorious motto, which rarely fails to be attended with success, that of doing unto others as he would be done by — and allowing no work to go from his shop that he did not believe was superior in workmanship and, would give satisfaction to purchasers.
“The reverence of Mr. C. for his parents is shown in the commendable fact, that his first earnings, on obtaining his majority, were devoted to the canceling of the debts of his father, and long and faithfully did he most cheerfully attend to the supplying of their wants.”
“Mr. C. has uniformly declined honors which his friends have wished to bestow, but was twice induced to represent the town of Pittsfield in the Legislature of the State.”
“His energy and devotion to business are well shown in an anecdote which has been often repeated in the village where he resides. Many years since, he was taken ill, and his physician, the late Dr. Oren Wright, was sent for by his wife. He came, and left a prescription, and directed that the patient should remain in the house and be quiet. On calling the next day to see his patient, he found him in his yard, giving directions to his men ; and, on approaching, Mr. C. remarked, ‘Doctor, I am busy now; can’t attend to you; you must call another time.'”
“It is a singular fact, and worthy of mention and imitation too, that Mr. C, in conducting his business, has never asked a bank to discount a note — has never had an endorser — and has never borrowed a dollar! He has gone on increasing by degrees, as the profits warranted, and to this is to be attributed his rare success. Mr. C. has often remarked, that the great difficulty at the present day is, that ‘men want to go too fast at first — they want to start upon a gallop.'”
sources: http://archive.org/stream/proceedingsincom00pitt/proceedingsincom00pitt_djvu.txt https://archive.org/stream/newyorkcoachmake11858stra/newyorkcoachmake11858stra_djvu.txt