[1] Proctor was born November 15, 1867, in a house on New York Avenue NW between 6th and 7th Streets in Washington, D. C. He was the seventh child and second son of Mary Ann (Davison) and John Clagett Proctor, a lawyer and journalist who was then the city editor of the National Republican newspaper.
[1] In 1883, Proctor began printing under Albert J. S. Curet at the United States National Museum.
[1] Long interested in "history, biography, and genealogy, especially of his native Washington and the neighboring Maryland and Virginia counties," Clagett began speaking at local events on historical topics.
In 1964, Milton Rubincam wrote for the Columbia Historical Society:A dedicated local historian, Proctor contributed extensively to our knowledge of the events that have taken place in the Nation's Capital and its environs.
His published writings reflect his interest in every facet of life in this area —social, political, economic, financial, educational, diplomatic, literary, military, even genealogically.