When Bertha Irene Brothwell was born on 12 March 1873, in Indianola, Red Willow, Nebraska, United States, her father, David Emery Brothwell, was 39 and her mother, Mary Irene Wildman, was 35. She married Leonard Clapp on 17 January 1889, in Indianola, Red Willow, Nebraska, United States. They were the parents of at least 10 sons and 7 daughters. She lived in Logan Election Precinct, Howard, Nebraska, United States in 1900 and Greeley, Nebraska, United States in 1910. She died on 2 May 1915, at the age of 42, and was buried in Amity Cemetery, Greeley, Nebraska, United States.