Claypool

The Claypool Name

"The name Claypool is derived from the locality from which th ename originated; probably taken from the parish of Claypole, County of Lincoln, England. In ancient English and early American records the name appeared in variant spellings of Claypole, Cleypole, Calipole, Cleipoole, with modifications of these but Claypool and Claypoole are the forms in evidence in America." (Media Research Bureau)
James Claypoole's historic accolades include the fact that his name is the first that appears on the Pennsylvania Charter and that he reportedly was William Penn's best friend,
David Chambers Claypoole, James' great-grandson owned the first daily newspaper in America...David Chambers Claypoole, who was the brother of James Jr., the Armstrong County settler, printed the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States and George Washington's Farewell Address, which was given to the printer personally by Washington.
Another distinguished Claypoole of the past is James, grandson of the family founder, the earliest native artist of Pennsylvania, whose speciality was portrait painting.
Not to be forgotten is John Claypoole the third husband of Betsy Ross, of Flag making fame.

Claypoole Manor

Ancestral Home, Northborough, England

Purchased by James Claypole, Esq., 1572 for L15,000

Claypole Manor, Ancestral Home of the Claypooles, is located about 85 miles north of London, just north of Peterborough, Northampton Co., England. "The remains of the manor-house, built by Geoffrey de la Mare 1340, consist chiefly of the ground-floor of the gatehouse and the hall of the house; the hall is now much subdived, but at the west and three orginal doorways, with ogee-arched heads enriched with crockets and the ball-flower ornament, remain. It still retains it's original crocketed gable, culminating in an octagonal chimney at the west end, and a cornice embellished with the ball-flower. It was here that Cromwell's widow died, as also did Mrs. Cleypole, his favorite daughter, who was buried in Henry VII's chapel at Westminister Abbey. (Cassell's Gazeteer of Great Britain and Ireland, 1879, Vol N-S, p. 36)
James Cleypole, Esq., who purchased the mansion in 1572, was the great-grandfather of the three Claypoole brothers who came to America in the seventeenth century. His son, Adam Claypole, Esq. married Lady Dorothy, daughter of Sir Robert Wingfield, and his wife, Elizabeth Cecil, sister of Lord Burleigh, Prime Minister of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Adam's son, Sir John Claypole, Knight of Latham, inherited the manor and lands of Norborough, and thiry-two acres, part of Waldram Parks, upon his marriage to Mary (Marie) Angell, daughter of William Angell, Esq. of London. One of their sons, Lord General John Claypole, married Elizabeth Cromwell, daughter of Oliver Cromwell. Three other sons, Edward, Norton and James Claypole, came to America.