Charles Floyd Clapp was born on January 10, 1897, in Guilford County, North Carolina. Clapp was a veteran of World War I, having served in the United States Navy from July 31, 1918, to December 24, 1918. In 1920, he provided testimony in an investigation into an attempted lynching in Alamance County. From 1936 until his death in 1956, he operated the Clapp Furniture Company in Burlington. Clapp died in Burlington on October 29, 1956.