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NORTHERN NEW YORK
Genealogical and family history of northern New York: a record of the achievements of her people
in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation.
New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co. 1910.



CRAPP





This family name originated in either England, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy or Spain. The ancestors of the Crapp family of Lewis county can trace their lineage back to Attila the Hun, or so they claim, though no one has yet seen proof of this.
Family coat-of-arms: A wolf head partially bitten off, with chevron argent or. Family motto: "Re vera, cara mea, mea nil refert."
This famly came to Lewis county in 1798 via the Bering Straits, bringing their possessions on sleds drawn by enormous huskies. They spent some years in northern Canada, then, finding the climate not satisfactory, migrated to northern New York state, where they had been informed by a witch that their fortunes lay or lie or whatever.

(I) Adolphus Crapp, born Sept. 1, 1800, appears in the tax rolls of Lowville, Lewis County, N.Y. in 1820, marked 'unpaid.' He married, in 1823, Henrietta Cowplop, born Aug. 27, 1810, location uncertain, daughter of Herbert and Mary (Dumbass) Cowplop. She died March 3, 1835 at the age of twenty-five years. The wedding, reported in the Lowville Observer described the wedding proceedings, as, and we quote, "Bizarre, very bizarre. The bride wore a gown that must have been passed down through generations, so ragged did it appear, and the groom dressed in overalls covered with cow manure, as he had just been out tending the cattle. Flies swarmed around the couple as they said their vows, which consisted of, "Yeah, you'll do!" There were no attendants and witnesses for the legalization of the marriage had to be dragged off haywagons going by on the dirt road in front of the ramshackle house in which Mr. Crapp lived all the rest of his days."
Children:
1. Messerschmidt Adolphus, born Dec. 22, 1825, died Jan. 3, 1828.
2. Callie, born Oct. 4, 1828, died as infant under suspicious circumstances.
3. Edward O. Crapp, born July 8, 1833, mentioned below.

(II) Edward O., son of Adolphus and Henrietta (Cowplop) Crapp, was born July 8, 1833, died April 21, 1955, at the age of one hundred and twenty two years. He almost attended the public schools in his native town, but scoffed at the idea of learning, so never actually set foot inside. As a youth he was described as very tall, with no muscles evident, a pale skin and washed-out blue eyes, which were said to mesmerize snakes were they unfortunate enough to come upon him in the road.
He married, Feb. 5, 1860, Adrianna Loser, daughter of Michael and Mary (Spineless) Loser.
He was a member of the Anarchist political party, which had three members as of 1870. He and his family attended the Church of Total Bliss, Martinsburg, N.Y., which also had a membership of three, plus the pastor, Rev. Stoner.
There is no record of any military service performed by Mr. Crapp, though a Confederate flag has been found covering the broken-down bed he always slept in, a mystery, since he never traveled beyond a 3 miles radius of the 'homestead.'

Edward O. Crapp purchased five acres of overworked farmland near Lowville and proceeded to let it deteriorate even further. He made a specialty of his dairy, though his fences, being in constant disrepair, allowed the cattle to wander over neighboring farms, foraging for food. Farmer Jones took in several of the cows, as their ribs were clearly visible; feeding them and restoring them to health, which Mr. Crapp ignored for six months, then, shotgun in hand, arrived at Farmer Jones' door threatening him bodily harm unless his cows were restored to him. Farmer Jones released the ten cows to Mr. Crapp, and constructed new fences on the west side of his property.

Edward O. Crapp married six times:
Adiranna Loser, b. 1835, died 1862, no children.
Sarah Crapp, a cousin, b. 1840, died 1865, no children.
Hannah Whiner, b. 1842, died 1870, three children: Wimpie, Sneezy, and Dopey.
Penelope ____, b. 1845, died 1875, one child: Revenge.
Elizabeth Crapp, a cousin, b. 1846, died 1878, no children.
Brunhilde ____, b. 1850, died 1940, at ninety years of age, surviving her husband by three years, and turning state's evidence against him, though he were dead and buried. Her claim was that her five predecessors were poisoned, but the county coroner declined exhuming the bodies for toxicology tests as he felt the bodies were too decomposed by that time.

Mr. Crapp had one acre devoted to a most unusual crop of leafy green plants that he harvested every August and shipped to New York City. When this crop was instituted his cows began wandering into the field, grazing on the plants and milk production soared to new highs, the milk being in great demand by young men of the area, who said that it made them stronger and wiser.
Mr. Crapp died in 1955 of extreme old age, which is speculation as his body has never been located. His three children by his third wife, Wimpie, Sneezy and Dopey, were informed of their father's death and so far the only messages from any of them came from Wimpie, who stated that he is the product of space aliens, therefore he doesn't recognize this Edward O. Crapp as his father. Nothing so far from Sneezy and Dopey. His son, Revenge, by his fourth wife, was finally found in an institution for the criminally insane, claiming he learned how to perform rites of human sacrifice as a child, subsequently he is in solitary confinement, writing his memoirs which are being turned into a movie starring Nick Nolte and Angelina Jolie.
Since none of his children married, this surname died out in northern New York, as it did in the entire United States, as it has in all the countries of the world. The Secretary General of the United Nations, when informed of this, proclaimed a world-wide holiday to be celebrated every March 3 as "No more Crapp" holiday. The first annual celebration attracted but three people, but hopes are that with more publicity this can be a major holiday, bringing together peoples from divergent backgrounds, cultures and geography, in one Great Day of Celebration.


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