Ralph Claypool left Lancaster on Thursday, July 4, 1907, along with Ulrich Musser, to visit Andrew Musser in Vancouver, Washington; both had plans to soon relocate to the northwestern state. While in Vancouver, Ralph swam with Ulrich and two other friends one evening in the mountain stream of the East Fork Lewis River. During their swim, Ralph had a sudden heart attack and failed to keep himself above the water. After several failed attempts by his friends to save him, he drowned on July 29th at 7:00 p.m. after he went under the water for a third time, never to resurface. His friends stated afterward that they were no match against gravity and the “death grip upon their arms” after they made several attempts to keep him above water. After they approached the shore, exhausted and distraught, they later retrieved Ralph’s body from the water. They found him lying at the bottom of a 12 foot section of clear water. Ulrich later sent word, via a distressed telegram, back to Fairfield County to his brother, Deputy Treasurer Z. C. Musser. He informed him of the situation.

Ulrich put his plans on hold to relocate permanently to Seattle and traveled back to Greenfield Township with his friend’s body, on the S. V. T. Line. After a five day travel, Ulrich gave John and Alvareta the body of their only son. The family prepared a funeral service for the young 22-year-old and buried him in the Greenfield Township cemetery.