An Illustrated History of Central Oregon, Western Historical Publishing Company,
Spokane, WA. 1905, page 347

WILLIAM S. CRAPPER, whose father founded Crapper district, is one of the
industrious farmers of the Hood River valley and lives about six miles south
from town. He was born in Clayton county, Iowa, on January 24, 1865, the son of
Dorsey S. and Elizabeth (Cottrell) Crapper. The father was born in Kentucky, and
his father was a native of Scotland and a ship owner. Our subject's
great-grandfather was a patriot in the Revolution and served four years in the
field and three chained to the deck of a prison ship. He was a companion to
Daniel Boone and with that worthy man fought the Indians. He died in Indiana
aged one hundred and seven. Our subject's grandfather was drowned at sea, and
many of the family were killed by Indians in Kentucky. Our subject's mother was
born in Michigan and her people are prominent railroad men. Her mother was of
Irish extraction. Her father was a prominent railroad builder. She died at the
home of this son, October 31, 1897, and her husband died in Portland, on March
11, 1903. Our subject was with his father in Webster City, Iowa, where the
latter operated a drug store. He was a pioneer of the town, and a prominent man
there. His education was secured from the public schools and he tried to enlist
in the Civil war but was rejected on account of poor teeth. In 1877, the family
came west overland and after five years of residence in Portland came to Hood
River, landing here in March, 1884. They took land and our subject now owns
eighty acres of his father's original homestead. He devotes his land to general
crops and is a substantial resident and leading citizen.     On September 4,
1890, in the house where he now lives, Mr. Crapper married Miss Rosa M. York,
and Mr. Crapper's sister, Mrs. McCurdy was married at the same time. The parents
of Mrs. Crapper, Frank and Johana (Writer) York, are natives of Switzerland and
Germany, respectively, and now live in Bellingham Bay, Washington. Mrs. Crapper
was born in Iowa and has two brothers, Henry A. and Frank N., and one sister,
Flora Hennis. Mr. Crapper has two sisters, Belle McCurdy and Nettie Hackett.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Crapper, Nettie B., Viola, and
Mildred, aged twelve, nine, and four, respectively.      

By way of reminiscence we note that in the winter of 1856-7 our subject's father
started with his family and equipage from Spirit Lake, Iowa, to Hamilton county,
but were caught in a blizzard and lost all stock except one horse. Finally they
got in only to find the people mourning their death, and one man stoutly
maintaining he had buried them. The next spring they went back to pick up their
stuff and found nearly all the old neighbors murdered by the Indians. Mr.
Crapper is a pioneer and comes from a race of stanch pioneers and they have all
done much to open up various sections from the colonial days to the present.

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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2005 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. 
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.