Richards Draper

Background

Richard Draper was born on February 24, 1727 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He was the grandson of Richard Draper who emigrated from England to Boston in 1680, and the son of John Draper who married Deborah, the daughter of Bartholomew Green, the publisher of the Boston News-Letter. John Draper continued the publication after the death of his father-in-law in 1732, taking into silent partnership his son Richard, who had been brought up to the printing trade.

Career

On the death of John in 1762, Richard in turn continued the paper, now called The Boston Weekly News-Letter and New England Chronicle. On April 7, 1763, the title was suddenly changed to The Massachusetts Gazette and Boston News-Letter. He took a kinsman, Samuel Draper, into partnership in the paper but not in the printing business, the connection lasting several years until the death of Samuel.

A little more than a month before his own death, Richard took John Boyle as a partner. Draper’s own firm did very little book printing but he was concerned with Edes & Gill, and the Fleets, and in that way was interested in book publishing. On December 2, 1762, he was appointed printer to the Governor and Council in place of his late father.

From 1763 to 1766, Richard and Samuel, and from 1767 to 1770, Richard, printed the theses for Harvard, calling himself “Academia; Typography. ” This last position, to his no small mortification, was taken from him and given to Isaiah Thomas in 1771.

As a major, he spent the winter of 1863 with his corps in East Tennessee, where they engaged in the siege of Knoxville, and joined Grant in the Virginia campaign in 1864.

Promoted to a lieutenant-colonelcy, Draper commanded a regiment in the Wilderness, where he was seriously wounded by a bullet in the shoulder. He recovered sufficiently, however, to join the army before Petersburg, and commanded a brigade at the Weldon Railroad engagement. Troubled by a second wound received at Pegram Farm, he left the service-on October 12, 1864, later receiving, before his twenty-third birthday, the brevet ranks of colonel and brigadier-general “for gallant and meritorious services in the field during the war. ”

Upon his return from active service he entered the employ of the firm of his father and father’s brother, E. D. & G. Draper, into which he was taken as partner three years later when his uncle sold out his interest to the young man.

William remained as junior partner in the new firm, now known as George Draper & Son, until the death of his father in 1887, when he assumed the leadership. His brothers, George A. and Eben Sumner, and his two eldest sons in due time became partners, but William F. Draper dominated the business until his resignation as president in 1907.

George Draper & Sons (so-called after the admission of George A. Draper in 1877) was in reality a firm which acted as selling agent for other concerns which it controled, and which manufactured cotton machinery.

It prospered enormously in the seventies and thereafter by the production of the Sawyer and Rabbeth spindles and many other improvements in spinning and weaving machinery.

During his later years he turned his attention to weaving in the hopes of achieving similar results.

He was counted by many the leading expert in spinning machinery in this country” and testified frequently in important patent suits relating to such machinery.

Until 1892 Draper never held any elective office except that of member of the town school committee, although he was a member of the convention which nominated Hayes and an elector- at-large for Harrison.

He had been given a large vote in 1889 in the Republican state convention for governor but two years later when the nomination was assured him he declined to be a candidate.

In 1892, however, being particularly interested in the tariff he was persuaded to run for Congress, and he served the 11th Massachusetts District in that body until his appointment as ambassador at Rome on April 5, 1897.

He was ambassador to Italy (1897 - 1900) during the period of the Spanish-American War and filled the post with satisfaction to both governments.

Pressure of private business, however, forced his resignation and brought an end to his public service.

Draper’s last years were spent in travel and recreation.

In 1908 he published a volume of memoirs, Recollections of a Varied Career.

Achievements

• Draper personally patented more than fifty inventions in textile machinery, and these with other improvements promoted and controled by him are believed to have doubled the speed of spinning yarn and to have cut the cost in half. In 1891 he made an important contribution to the technical history of cotton spinning in a paper, “The History of Spindles, ” read before the New England Cotton Manufacturers’ Association.

Works

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Connections

Draper was twice married: first, on September 15, 1862 he married Lydia Joy, adopted daughter of David Joy of Nantucket; second, on May 22, 1890 Susan Preston, daughter of General William Preston of Kentucky. There were five children by the first marriage, and one by the second.

Father:

John Draper

Mother:

Deborah Green

Spouse:

Lydia Joy

Spouse:

Susan Preston

Grandfather:

Richard Draper