Margaret Clapp

Margaret (Clapp) Smart was born February 4th, 1844 in Coles County, Illinois. Her parents moved there from Edgar County and then later moved to Clark County. They moved a great deal around this area. I assume they were following work.

Margaret married James Smart when she was 22 and lived with him 30 years until he died in Pilot Point, Texas. Although 52 years old at the time, she would push forward, family in tow, to accomplish much in her remaining 14 years in Oklahoma.

She was a determined woman that fit the times perfectly. Her family orbited around her as they explored new territory looking for arable land they could obtain. These were heady times indeed and like so many in that area at that time in history, she was wating to get in on the farming bonanza.

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Margaret Clapp was the fifth of eleven children born to Eliza Jane White, first wife to George Clapp, a German farmer born in North Carolina.

Her family descended from Thomas Clapp of 16th Century Germany with roots in Norway.

The Move to Oklahoma

Margaret's Life in Retrospect

Learn more about her:

Husband Family Children

True Grit - The Stuff Margeret Was Made From

Margaret's mother died at the age of 39, not too long after having her eleventh child. The three older sisters:

• Mandana - 16
• Margaret - 11
• Martha - 8

Their father re-married and proceeded to add eight more children to the young girls burdens.

Needless to say, these three sisters would form a strong bond that held them close for a lifetime and spanned half a continent. Margaret and Martha would marry a Darnall and follow her sister west from Illinois to Washita County, Oklahoma.

And Margaret would hold on like a rock until she realized the dream of owning land. In the process, she knitted together her children, their spouses, and whatever grand kids came along into a family that held together until the first world war scattered them across the western United States..