Adaline K. Clapp (maiden name: Leonard) was born on September 3, 1811, in West Springfield, Massachusetts, to Chauncey and Sybil Leonard. She moved to Ohio in the 1830s, and she married Arnold Clapp there on October 6, 1836. They had at least seven children: Philo, born around 1838; Lewis, born around 1842; Louisa, born around 1842; Jane, born around 1844; Oscar, born around 1847; Charles, born around 1850; and Clara, born around 1852. They lived in Norwich, Ohio, and her husband worked as a farmer. By 1850, they owned $6,600 of real estate.
Her husband died around 1855. By 1860, she and her family were living in Dahlonega, Iowa, and she owned $6,000 of real estate and $675 of personal property. She remained in Dahlonega for the rest of her life, and she died there on November 20, 1877.