WILLIAM FRANKLIN DRAPER

Draper, William Franklin (1842-1910), a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Lowell, Middlesex County, Mass., April 9, 1842; attended public, private, and high schools; studied mechanical engineering and cotton manufacturing; enlisted as a private in the Twenty-fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, on September 9, 1861; promoted through the ranks to lieutenant colonel; brevetted colonel and brigadier general of Volunteers; became a manufacturer of cotton machinery at Hopedale, Worcester County, and patented many improvements; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1876; colonel on the staff of Governor Long from 1880 to 1883; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1897); chairman, Committee on Patents (Fifty-fourth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1896; president of the Draper Co. upon its incorporation in 1896; Ambassador and Minister Plenipotentiary to Italy 1897-1899; died in Washington, D.C., on January 28, 1910; interment in Village Cemetery, Hopedale, Mass.
Parents: George Draper, Hannah Thwing

Spouse 1: Lydia Warren Joy
Born: 31 Aug 1843 in Nantucket, Nantucket, Massachusetts
Died: 18 Feb 1884 in Hopedale, Worcester, Massachusetts
Marriage: 15 Sep 1862 in Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusett
Children Sex Birth
William Franklin Draper M 17 Dec 1865
George Otis Draper M 14 Jul 1867 in Hopedale, Worcester, Massachusetts
Edith Draper F 18 Feb 1874
Arthur Joy Draper M 28 Apr 1875
Clara Hill Draper F 4 Oct 1876

Spouse 2: Susan Christie Preston
Born: Nov 1853
Marriage: 22 May 1890
Children Sex Birth
Margaret Preston Draper F 18 Mar 1891

Sources:
United States Federal Census
Vital Records
The Political Graveyard
Submitted by Deborah Crowell