Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. III, Part 1

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 772

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. III > Part 1

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PUBLIC LIBRARY

OMNIVM -

OF THE CITY OF BOSTONY > 45.52 : 1843

BUSTUN PUBLIC

William F. Draper.

HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS

AND

GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS

. OF

WORCESTER COUNTY

MASSACHUSETTS

WITH A HISTORY OF

WORCESTER SOCIETY OF ANTIQUITY

PREPARED UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF ELLERY BICKNELL CRANE 17 Librarian of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, and Editor of its Proceedings; Author of "The Rawson Family Memorial," "Crane Family," two vols., Etc.

"Knowledge of kindred and the genealogies of the ancient families deserveth the highest praise. Herein consisteth a part of the knowledge of a man's own self. It is a great spur to virtue to look back on the work of our lives." -- Lord Bacon.

"There is no heroic poem in the world but it at the bottom the life of a man."-Sir Walter Scott.

VOL. II.

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK CHICAGO THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1907

F72 Wac8 1- 3

July 9 1907 U C

4v.

WORCESTER COUNTY

DRAPER FAMILY.

Thomas Draper (1), progenitor of the Draper family, of Hopedale, Mas- sachusetts, and father of the immigrant ancestor, lived and died in the parish of Heptonstall, Vicarage of Halifax, Yorkshire, England. He be- longed to an ancient and numerous family, named originally doubtless for the occupation. Thomas Draper, indeed, was a clothier by occupation. His children were: Thomas, John, William, James, mentioned below, Mary and Martha. All were born in Heptonstall, and James alone came to New England.

(II) James Draper, son of Thomas Draper (I), was born in Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England. in 1618. He came to New England about the time he came of age, and from 1640 to 1650 was a pioneer and proprietor of the town of Roxbury, Massa- chusetts. He became a proprietor of Lancaster in 1654, but lived and died at Roxbury. He was sev- enty-three years old when he died, July, 1694. His grave in the old churchyard there is marked by a stone. He was admitted a freeman in 1690. From his exceedingly strict piety he was known in his day as James, the Puritan, and as such he is still known to genealogists and historians. He was the owner of several looms and he followed his trade as clothier in this country. He married Miriam Stansfield, April 21, 1646, at Heptonstall, England. She was born there November 27, 1625, the daughter of Gideon and Grace (Eastwood) Stansfield. Miriam ( Stansfield) died at Roxbury, December-January, 1697. Her gravestone at Roxbury states: "Here lyes ye body of Mrs. Marrian Draper, wife of Mr. James Draper, aged about 77 years Dec .- Jan. . 1697." The stone appears to be one of the oldest in the cemetery.

The children of James and Miriam Draper were: Miriam, born in England, February 7, 1646-47, died there; Susannalı, 1650, at Roxbury, married John Bacon, of Charlestown; Sarah, 1652, at Roxbury; James, mentioned below : John. April 24, 1656, at Dedham, Massachusetts, died April 5, 1749; Moses, September 26, 1663, at Dedham, died August 14, 1693, at Boston; Daniel, May 30, 1665, at Dedham, died there; Patience. August 17. 1668. at Roxbury : Jonathan, March 10, 1670. at Roxbury, married Sarah Jackson; died at Roxbury, February 28, 1746-47.

(111) James Draper, fourth child of James Draper (I), was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1654, and died there April 30, 1698, aged forty-four years. He married Abigail Whitney, a descendant of John and Elinor Whitney, for whom see sketch elsewhere in this work. She died in Roxbury. Octo- ber 25. 1721, aged fifty-nine years. The gravestones of both are to be found in the Roxbury graveyard, now in Boston. Hc was a soldier in King Philip's 111-I

war in 1675-76. Their children were: Abigail, Na- thaniel, William, Eunice, James, mentioned below, Gideon and Ebenezer.

(IV) James Draper, son of James Draper (3), was born about 1694 at Dedham, Massachusetts, and died there April 24, 1768, aged seventy-seven years. He married (first), May 2, 1716, Rachel

Aldis. He married (second), November 12,

1719, Abigail Child. They settled in Ded-

ham. He was a manufacturer and farmer.

The wife Abigail was noted for her musical talent. This James Draper was prominent in the military affairs of the colony and captain of the Dedham Company. Four of their children, James, Abigail, John and Joshua, settled in Spencer, Massa- chusetts, and have many descendants there and in the vicinity. James and Joshua, the sons, settled there on lots thirty-three and thirty-four, bought by their father in 1736. The wife Abigail died November 12, 1767. Their children were: James, September 22, 1720, died March 1781 : Abigail, December 12, 1721, married Henry White: John, June 16, 1723, died November 8, 1748; Joshua. December 25, 1724; Josiah, April 23, 1726, died August 18, same year ; Josiah, September 12, 1727, died September, 1795; Rebecca, June 30, 1729; Mary, September 84. 1731 ; Abijah, July 13, 1734, died November 18, 1734: Abijah, July II, 1735, died February 13, 1737; Abijah, May 10, 1737, died May 1, 1780, mentioned below : Samuel, December 5, 1740, died' November 29, 1750.

(V) Abijah Draper, son of James Draper (4), was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, May 10, 1737, and died May 1, 1780. He married, April 8, 1762, Alice Eaton, daughter of John and Elizabeth Eaton. She was born January 31. 1741, and died January 22. 1777. He lived in Dedham where he was a farmer. He was an active patriot before and during the revolution, and was major of the First Suffolk Regiment with active service in the revolution. The children of Major Abijah and Alice were: Abijah, born June II. 1763, died December 16, 1774; Ira, mentioned below: Rufus, November 27, 1766, died at Norfolk, Virginia, November 18, 1788; James. horn April 14, 1769: Alice. April 13, 1771, married Ebenezer Daggett, died in New Boston, New Hamp- shire. aged eighty-one years; Abijah, September 22, 1778. By second wife. Desire Metcalf, married March 25, 1778. one daughter. Lendamine, horn March 30. 1780. died October 26, 1823.

(VI) Ira Draper, son of Abijah Draper (5). was horn December 29, 1764. He settled in Weston, Massachusetts. "He was," said Rev. Mr. Ballou, "a man of large natural intelligence, mechanical ingenuity and progressive thought." He invented a loom temple, which was introduced by his sons. thus starting the family in the line of cotton ma-

WORCESTER COUNTY

chinery improvement. He died January 22,

1848, over eighty-four years of age. He mar- ried (first ), May 31, 1786, Lydia Richards, .daughter of Lemuel and Rebecca Richards. She was born January 21, 1768, and died September II, 18II. He married (second) her sister, March 9, 1812. She was born September 12. 1783, and died March 3, 1847. The children of Ira and Lydia Draper were: I. James, born May 28, 1787, lived :and died in Wayland, Massachusetts. 2. Ira, Jr., January 4, 1789, died June, 1845. 3. Rufus, August 30, 1790, died September 4, of same year. 4. Daugh- ter, August 7, 1791. 5. Son, December 17, 1793. 6. Lucy C., June 17, 1797, died September 15, 1800. 7. Rufus Foster, July 12, 1800, died October 13, 1841, married Polly Heminway. 8. Abijah, Janu- .ary 5, 1802, died October 4, same year. 9. Abijah, November 15, 1803, died December 21, 1828. 10. Daughter, December 1, 1807. The children of Ira and Abigail Draper were: II. Ebenezer Daggett. mentioned below. 12. Lydia, March 31, 1815, died April 4. 1847, married John Edmunds. 13. George, mentioned below. 14. Abigail, October 24, 1819, died July 22, 1847. married William W. Cook. 15. Lemue Richards, December 1, 1823, married Lydia M. Mansfield. 16 Lucy R., December 22, 1826. «died July, 1827.

(VII) Ebenezer Daggett Draper, son of Ira Draper (6), was born at Weston, Massachusetts, .June 13, 1813. He settled in Uxbridge, and attended the First Church ( Unitarian) of Mendon, Massa- chusetts, of which Rev. Adin Ballou was the pastor. 'When Mr. Ballou originated the Hopedale com- munity, Ebenezer became a member and joined Rev. and Mrs. Ballou on the old Jones farm in Mlilford. now Hopedale. The locality had been known from early times as the Dale. The new owners prefixed the word Hope. The society was called Fraternal Community No. I, and afterward simply The Hopedale Community. The community began practical operations imme- diately after April 1, 1842 "with a joint stock capi- tal of less than four thousand dollars on a worn-out farm of two hundred and fifty-eight acres in a ·single time-shattered mansion, nearly one hundred and twenty years old with a few rickety out- buildings" Mr. and Mrs. E. D. Draper came there about a year later, and they were main pillars of the institution until its decadence, Mr. Draper succeed- ing Mr. Ballou as the president.

The objects of the community were summe! up thus by Mr. Ballou: "Its chief originator and his associates were Independent Restorationists in theology and moral reformers-believers in the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of man and the religion of Jesus Christ, as he taught and ex- emplified it, according to the Scriptures of the New Testament. And they became seized with a deeply religious and rational ambition to carry their faith logically into practice, socially as well as individually. Their premises and conclusions were invulnerable to just criticism. They were all teetotal temperance people, thorough Abolitionists of the non-political type, sincere believers in the co-equal rights of the sexes, and devoted christian non-resistants, eschew- ing all forms of deadly and harmful force against human beings, even the worst. They ardently de- sired to commence an order of society and civiliza- tion on this basis, wherein systematic practice should not persistently contradict and nullify gospel theory, but concordantly exemplify it." The community grew steadily and seemed successful for nearly four- teen years, increasing to a membership of a hundred with three hundred inhabitants dwelling in fifty houses, owning five hundred aeres with "a respectable

array of homely but serviceable mills, shops and conveniences. They had also a school house, chapel and library, a handsome village site where good streets had been built and the capital had grown to $90,000." "There was not an idler or spendthrift among us. All worked and saved. The community gave away freely to others. It was not merely self- sustaining, but an unselfish and beneficent one, made up of intelligent, rational, industrious, economical, orderly and charitable people." In 1856 when the future seemed to promise much to the community, . Mr. Draper, the president, in his annual address, said: "I hope and believe that with our past ex- perience and present advantages, we shall continue to increase in love and wisdom, and so become more and more a light to those around us-proving to the world that Christian Socialism opens a more ex- cellent way in which men may live together as social beings, and that it gives us, as it will all who yield to its saving power, peace and good will to one another and to the whole human race." Yet in less than two months the financial report convinced Mr. Draper and his brother George, who together owned three-fourths of the joint stock, that the community was impracticable. George Draper had only recently joined the community. To the great disappointment of the founder, who never abandoned his belief in the practicability of the idea, the busi- ness of the community passed into private hands. The business interests were taken over by Ebenezer D. and George Draper, and formed the cornerstone of the great industrial structure they and their suc- cessors have erected in Hopedale. They paid all the debts and bought in outstanding stock at par. At least some of the credit for this model American manufacturing village, this model manufacturing plant. is due to the community of which the two Drapers were the two most prominent laymen.

During the most important years of early develop- ment Ebenezer D. Draper was an important factor in the concern. When he joined the community in 1842 he was worth about $5,000; in 1852 when he entered the partnership with his brother he was worth $30,000, while George had less than $5,000. Both gained rapidly, and in 1868 when they dis- solved partnership the senior brother was worth $125.000, and George was worth over a hundred thousand. Their business had expanded rapidly. The growth of the business from this point belongs under the sketch of the younger brother. Ebenezer D. Draper became interested in the American Steam Fire Proof Safe Company, of Boston. and in 1870 he removed to Boston and disposed of his Hopedale property. He lost all of his capital in his new enter- prise.

He married (first), September II, 1834, Anna Thwing, daughter of Benjamin and Anna (Mowry) Thwing. She was born December 23, 1814, and lied January 30, 1870, at Hopedale. They had no children of their own. but adopted the following : 1. Ida Anna, born July 12, 1828, died July 12, 1833, at Hopedale. 2. Mary Anna, August 15, 1852; reides in Boston. 3. Charles Henry Eaton, son of Rev. Henry Eaton, once pastor of the Pearl Street Universalist Society of Milford: his name was not changed ; he graduated at Tufts College in 1875; from Tufts Divinity School in 1877; was soon set- tled at Palmer; succeeded Dr. Chapin in New York city

Ebenezer D. Draper married (second), October 18, 1872, Mrs. Mary ( Parker) Boynton. They lived at Boston Highlands where he died.

(VII) George Draper, thirteenth child of Ira Draper (6), was born in Weston, Massachusetts, August 16. 1817. He resided at Weston and at

WORCESTER COUNTY

Saugus, Massachusetts, where his father went in 1822. He was educated in the public schools of Sangus, supplemented by an unusually complete mathematical education at home. When he was fifteen years old he entered the weaving room of the cotton mill at North Uxbridge, where his par- ents went to live, and for two years he was a weaver. What he learned in earning his daily bread in the cotton mill had more influence on his future career than we can determine. He became an . expert, and at the age of seventeen years he became an overseer of weaving and dressing cloth in a cotton-shceting mill at Walpole, Massachusetts. After three years he accepted a position as overseer of the weaving in a large cotton mill at Three Rivers, in Palmer, Massachusetts. He remained there until 1839, and during his stay there made an important improvement on the temple that his father invented and manufactured. As a result of hard times he was out of work for some time and was driven at last to take a job as operative in the Massachusetts Cotton Mill, at Lowell, at the munificent salary of five dollars a week. In 1843 he accepted a position as designer for the extensive cassimere mills of Edward Harris, at Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and in 1845 became superintendent of one of the mills of the Otis Company at Ware, Massachusetts. He was promoted finally to the gen- eral superintendency of all the mills of this com- pany.

He joined his brother, Ebenezer D. Draper, in the Hopedale community about two years before it was wound up as a business venture, and became one of the two largest stockholders. The brothers became doubtful of the success of the in- dustry as conducted at . Hopedale and wished to withdraw. Their interests were so large, how- ever, that they were obliged to take the plant of the community, assuming the debts, and continue the business as a partnership. As has been told in the sketch of the senior partner, business pros- pered and their capital increased as their enterprises multiplied. When the older brother decided to withdraw from the firm, his interests were bought by General William F. Draper, eldest son of the junior partner. The firm name became George Draper & Son. In 1877 another son was admitted to the firm which was then called George Draper & Sons. Lieutenant Governor Eben S. Draper was admitted to the firm in ISSo. After the death of the senior partner two sons of General Draper became partners-William F. Draper, Jr., in 1887, and George Otis Draper, in 1889. The entire success of the Drapers has rested primarily on the patents that they have secured. They have halved the cost of production in the line in which their ma- chinery applies. George Draper . himself should be honored less for his great business and executive ability than for the wonderful in- ventions that he produced not only by his own skill and ingenuity but those he hired other inventors to work out for him. It would be impossible to give an adequate idea in a brief sketch of this sort of the plant owned and controlled by the Draper com- panies even as they were when George Draper left the helm to his able son and partner. The business was divided from time to time until there were five Draper industries under distinct manage- ment on Mill River, occupying some twenty spacious buildings, mostly of brick and of the most sub- stantial and durable construction, furnished with steam and water power, and supporting an entire township

The names Draper and Hopedale have become synonymous. The village became an incorporated

town April 7, 1886, through the efforts of George Draper and the citizens of Hopedale. The Draper companies were: The Hopedale Machine Company. which made spoolers, warpers, twisting machinery, roving frames, and the Sawyer and Rabbeth spindles; Dutcher Temple Company, manufac- turing loom temples, Shaw knitting machines, Draper automatic sprinklers; George Draper & Sons, manufacturing spinning rings and controlling as agent the product of the other concerns; Hopedale Elastic Fabric Company, manufacturing the elastic webbing used in making suspenders, shoe gores, etc .; Hopedale Machine Screw Company, manufac- turing all kinds of machine screws. Mr. Draper was president of these companies and he had ex- tensive outside interests. He was a large owner in the Shaw Stocking Works at Lowell; the Glas- gow Thread Company of Worcester; the Glasgow Yarn Company of Norwich, Connecticut; the Mil- ford & Woonsocket Railroad; the Milford & Hop- kinton Railroad.

During the civil war, few men at the front ac- complished more than he did at home in behalf of the Union. He resigned from the community which had set its face against all war or violence, and he co- operated to the full extent of his ability and re- sources to aid Governor Andrew in sending the quota from Massachusetts to the Union Army. Mr. Draper sent his only son old enough to enlist to the front. He raised several companies. He helped the work of recruiting. He gave up all attention to business and devoted himself to assisting the gov- ernment in every way that he could. While most manufacturers were benefited from the conditions during the war, he lost ground through his intense loyalty` to the government. He was sincerely anti- slavery. He was a personal friend of Governor An- drew, Lloyd Garrison and other leaders of the public sentiments. In politics Mr. Draper was originally a Whig. He affiliated with the Free Soilers and followed that party into the Republican party when it was organized He remained to the day of his death one of the foremost men of his party in the Commonwealth. He was a vigorous, logical, and untiring advocate of Protection for American indus- tries. He studied the question at home and abroad. No college professor in the world had given the theory of protection such careful study and surely no manufacturer had a better opportunity to observe the effects of tariff on manufacturing. He practically started the Home Market Club of Bos- ton, which has a membership of about two thousand men, representing the manufacturing interests of New England as well as Boston. He was the first president. He declined to accept public office. He was generous in his gifts, both public and private. He assisted all the movements intended to make Hopedale a better or more prosperous town. He gave the commodious and beautiful town hall to Hopedale, and a liberal annual gift to the soldiers' home at Chelsea, Massachusetts.

Mr. Draper died June 7, 1887, aged nearly seventy years, at the very height of his business success 'and full of great hopes and plans for the future. He must he known to history as the Founder of In- dustrial Hopedale and the greater the town becomes in the future, the greater honor will be paid to the man who kept his shoulder to the wheel during the days of invention and development, growth and re- organization, until the town and its industries seem to command an unfaltering prosperity. His friend and brother in Hopedale Community. Rev. Adin Ballou, lias said of George Draper: "He began the world with an empty purse, but was richly endowed with mechanical genius, ambitious enterprise, shrewd in-

WORCESTER COUNTY

telligence, sound business judgment, and indomi- table persistency of purpose. With these and with the faithful co-operation of a wife, rich in all the qualities necessary to match and complement his own, he has successfully risen to wealth and dis- tinction."

George Draper married, March 6, 1839, Hannah Brown Thwing, daughter of Benjamin and Anna (Mowry) Thwing. She was born in Uxbridge, January 1, 1817. She died in 1883, and he married (second ) in Milford, 1884, Mrs. Blunt, of Milford. The children of George and Hannah Draper were : 1. William Franklin, born at Lowell, April 9, 1842, mentioned below. 2. Georgiana T., June 30, 1844, at Lowell, died July 23, 1844. 3. Helen L., July II, 1845, at Lowell; died August 10, 1847. 4. Frances Eudora, July 26, 1847, at Ware, Massachusetts, mar- ried Charles H. Colburn, February 20, 1868; their children were Helen, born 1868, died 1896, and Alice, 1875. 5. Son, born at Ware, December 15, 1850, died same day. 6. Hannah Thwing, born at Ware, April II, 1853; married Edward Louis Osgood, at Boston, January 20, ISSI. Their children were : Ed- ward D., born January 2, 1882; Fanny C. and Han- nah D. (twin), born December 27, 1882; George D .. April 25, 1888. 7. George Albert, born at Hopedale, November 4, 1855; mentioned below. 8. Eben Sumner, born at Hopedale, Massachusetts, June 17, 1858, mentioned below.

(VII) Lemuel Richards Draper, son of Ira Draper (6), was born December 1, 1823. He resided in Saugus, Lynnfield, Worcester, Milford, and North Brookfield. He was an active business man. He superintended various establishments and job contracts, and though less successful than some of his brothers he acquired a competence and proved himself to have his full share of the family ability.

He married, at Lynnfield, January 1, 1845, Lydia M. Mansfield, daughter of David and Esther (Williams) Mansfield. She was born at Lynnfield, December 5, 1824. Their children were: I. Edward Mansfield, born at Saugus, April 10, 1846, died September 9, 1848. 2. Annette Louise, born at Saugus, September 28, 1847; married Jonas Hale Carter, of Berlin, November 30, 1871. 3. Oscar Engene, born at Milford, April 12, 1850; married, October 12, 1869, Emma L. Hunt. 4. Eva Richards, born at Worcester, August 31, 1854; a teacher in the public schools. 5. Minnie Eliza, born at Hope- dale, March 1, 1857; died January 12, 1860. 6. William Lemuel, born at Hopedale, August 29, 1861. resides at North Brookfield.

(VIII) James Dexter Draper, son of Rufus Foster Draper (7), and grandson of Ira Draper (6). was born at Wayland, October 4, 1827. His mother was Polly Heminway. Ile was a molder in the Draper Foundry at Hopedale, and sexton of the church for many years. He married (first), Feb- ruary, 1850, Caroline Pamelia Pratt, daughter of Sumner and Susan (Cox) Pratt. She was born at Lynnfield, Massachusetts, January 26, 1833, and died March 13, 1855. He married (second), April 3. 1862, in South Reading, Mary E. Newell, daughter of Benjamin F. and Elizabeth ( Whitcomb) Newell. She was born in East Boston.

The children of James Dexter and Caroline P. Draper were: I. Emma Caroline, born March II, 1851; married Joseph H. Qualters, July 2. 1877. 2. Ida Lorene, born August 2, 1852; married George H. Chamberlain, January 14, 1878. The children of James Dexter and Mary E. Draper were: 3. William Newell, born at South Reading, January 2, 1865. 4. Charles Eugene, born in Hopedale. March 24. 1868. 5. Hubie Irving, born in Hopedale, April 20. 1870. 6. James Dexter, born at Hopedale, April 30.

1874. 7. Ernest Wilfred, born in Hopedale, Decem- ber 26, 1879.

(VIII) Oscar Eugene Draper, son of Lemuel R. Draper (7), was born at Milford, April 12, 1850. He settled in North Brookfield. He married (first) Emma Lucy Hunt, daughter of Hiram and Laura Ann (Adams) Hunt. She was born at Milford, May 16, 1849, and married there October 12, 1869. She died December 8, 1876. He married (second), September 21, 1879, Emma E. J. Sturtevant, daugh- ter of Calvin and Alony A. Griswold, of Walpole, New Hampshire. She was born March 31, 1851. The children of Oscar E. and Emma Lucy Draper were: Laura Adelaide, born at Milford, December 12, 1870; Hiram Eugene, born at Milford, September 15. 1872; Clarence Percival, born at Milford, Angust 12, 1874.

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Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. III, Part 1

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 772

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 772