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Dr. Chambers B. Clapp,
chief surgeon of the Wabash Hospital at
Moberly, who also owns
and conducts the Woodland Hospital in this
city, is one of the skilled
and widely known physicians and surgeons
of the state. Doctor Clapp
is a native of Illinois, He was born in Dan-
ville, Ill., Nov. 21, 1858.
His parents were George A. and Catherine
(Brown) Clapp, George A.
Clapp was a native of North Carolina and
a pioneer settler of
Vermillion County, Ill, He was a farmer by occu-
pation and when the Civil
War hroke out he enlisted in the 125th Regi-
ment Illinois Infantry, and
served in the Union army for three and one-
half years. He enlisted as a
private and was promoted from time to
time during the course of
his military career until he became a first
lieutenant and held that
rank when he received his honorable discharge
and was mustered out of
the service at the close of the war.
Doctor Clapp's mother
died when she was 21 years of age, leaving
three motherless children:
Dr. Chambers B., the subject of this sketch,
and Isaac D., twins, the
latter of whom is a farmer in Florida, and Mrs.
0. J. Matthews, of
Minatare, Neb. After the death of his first wife the
father was again married
and moved his family to Nebraska, where
he spent the remainder of
his life. He died in 1916 at the age of 78
years.
Doctor Clapp received his
preliminary education in the district schools
of Vermillion County, Ill.,
and Nebraska. Later he attended the State
Normal School of
Nebraska, after which he was engaged in the drug
business for a time at
Brock, Neb. He then went to Philadelphia and
took a course in the
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and was graduated
in 1882. He then returned
to Danville, Ill., where he was in the drug
business for four years
when he went to Chicago and was engaged in the
same business for two
years. He read medicine under private preceptors
and entered Rush Medical
College at Chicago, where he was graduated
with the degree of Doctor
of Medicine in the class of 1889.
After receiving his degree,
Doctor Clapp again returned to Dan-
yule, Ill., where he was
engaged in the practice of his profession about
one year when he received
the appointment of local surgeon for the
Wabash Railway
Company at Moberly, Mo., and immediately came here.
The Wabash Hospital was
completed the same year and ready for occu-
pancy in 1891 and since
that time Doctor Clapp has had charge of that
institution. During this long
period of thirty years he has made a
record of which any
surgeon may be justly proud and times without
number he has
demonstrated his great skill as a physician and surgeon
and the work that he has
done during his career in the Wabash Hospital
could not he told in any
mere biography
Doctor Clapp's life is a
busy one and in addition to his work in the
Wabash Hospital he built
Woodland Hospital, which he also conducts
He bought the property
where this hospital stands in 1909 and used a
portion of the building
which stood thereon as a part of the splendid
modern hospital which he
erected. Woodland Hospital has a capacity for
50 patients and is
equipped with all modern hospital fixtures and con
veniences. The grounds
upon which the hospital stands has a frontage
of 170 feet and is 400 feet
deep. The building is well designed and the
grounds are neat and well
kept and Woodland Hospital is recognized as
one of the beauty spots of
Moberly. It would cost $100,000 to build this
hospital at the present
time.
In 1883 Dr. Chambers B.
Clapp was united in marriage with Miss
Laura D. Lockhart, a
native of Danville, Ill. She is a daughter of
John R. and Mary
Lockhart, both natives of Vermillion County, Ill. the
father is now in his 84th
year and the mother is 77 years of age.
In addition to his
professional career, Doctor Clapp takes a keen
interest in local affairs of a
public nature and has stood ever ready to
do his part for the
betterment and upbuilding of Moberly and its insti
tutions. He is president of
the Moberly Chamber of Commerce and also
president of the board of
education and during the World War he served
on the Medical Advisory
Board, He is a director in the Bank of Moberly
He is a Knights Templar
Mason and a member of the Shrine. He also
holds membership in the
Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks.
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