James Draper (abt. 1622 - 1697)

Born about 1622 in Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Miriam (Stansfield) Draper — married 21 Apr 1646 in Heptonstall, Halifax, Yorkshire, England

Descendants

Died 13 Jul 1697 at about age 75 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Richard Draper [send private message] and Misty Wood [send private message]

Biography

James Draper was born to William Draper* in Heptonstall, England. There appears to be no valid basis for the 1618 birth year posited by Thomas W. Draper. ^[1] Evidently Mr. T. W. Draper read the tombstone's date of death incorrectly as 1691 and subtracted the age at death of "about" 73 years to come up with 1618, but the Roxbury Town Record proves that the real year of death was 1697, which is also validated by careful examination of the tombstone.

• The Drapers in America erroneously claimed that the emigrant James Draper was the son of Thomas Draper. on this point. James is the son of William Draper and Grace (Mitchell) Draper. Thomas Draper and his wife, Grace (Newhall) Draper were both long dead before James was born.

It is not true that "James, in his own writing, said that he was the son of Thomas," as suggested in a prior version of this biography. Rather, it was James' son John Draper who said in a deposition that his grandfather was Thomas Draper. However, John Draper never knew his grandfather, much less his great-grandfather, so this error is understandable.

James Draper (1622 - 1697), called in the family records "The Puritan," came to this country, as nearly as can be ascertained, in the year 1648, accompanied by his wife, Miriam Stanfield Draper. He is mentioned in the public records in 1654 as one of the proprietors of the newly laid out town of Lancaster. He, however, did not settle there, but remained in Roxbury, where he built a house, which stood until it was destroyed by fire about 1870. In an inventory of his estate appears an item of "looms and tacklin," he having carried on a weaving business, employing about a dozen looms.

James Draper was born in Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England in or about 1622. He married Miriam Stansfield in Heptonstall on 21 Apr 1646.^[2] His name is listed as "Jacobi" Draper - that being the Latin genitive version of "James" - in the parish marriage register entry for the christening of his daughter.^[3][4] There is no "passenger list" for his arrival in Massachusetts; just the fact that he was given the right to be among the proprietors of Lancaster, Massachusetts in 1654 means that he was in Massachusetts by then. (The database called "passenger and immigration lists" includes many data points other than actual passenger lists.) ^[5] He died in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts 13 July 1697, as the town records make clear.^[6] References to a death year of 1691 are purely the result of a misreading of the inscription on his tombstone.

Note

[The information here from Vol. I, pp. 477-480 of Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, edited by Cuyler Reynolds (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911 has been edited because there is nothing to be gained by perpetuating the errors set forth in that publication Anyone who wants to read the original can do so as a photocopy is attached to this profile. It is in SCPL's Reference collection at R 929.1 R45. Some of the formatting of the original, especially in lists of descendants, may have been altered slightly for ease of reading.]

The Drapers from whom the American family descend, were natives to the County of Yorkshire, at or near Heptonstall, and all of the name are believed to have descended from William, John and Henry Le Drapou. Heptonstall was a village and parochial chapelry in the manor of Halifax-cum-Heptonstall, West Riding, Yorkshire.

The ancestor of the American family is Thomas Draper, father of William Draper, father of James "the Puritan." He was a clothier and fuller. His ancestors had followed the same business before him, and his American descendants frequently did likewise in New England. The very name "Draper" suggests the occupation, "one who deals in cloth."

Thomas Draper's wife was Grace, the daughter of James Newhall (Source: Property settlement; the other beneficiaries being Christabel wife of RIchard Saltonstall, and Elizabeth wife of Richard Naylor).

The family name is an honored one in English history, and was entitled to a coat-of-arms. Sir Christopher Draper, an ironmonger, was Lord Mayor of London in 1567, and there are many of the name who have been prominent in the civil and military history of their native country. The Stansfields and Drapers were closely allied for centuries in England, and culminated in the marriage of a daughter of the house to James Draper, "the Puritan," and becoming the mother of the Draper family of America. In this country the name is an honored one in every branch of our civil, religious or commercial life. They are found in every profession, business or trade. Many eminent men have borne the name which we here trace through nine generations, from James "the Puritan," to Frederick Elliott Draper, of Troy, New York.

[Thomas Draper was buried 9 July 1603 at Heptonstall, and his will was proved 6 October of that year, rendering the statement in the Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs that

(II) James, was the "...son of Thomas Draper," completely wrong.

Although James Draper is found as one of the original proprietors of the town of Lancaster, no evidence can be found that he ever lived there. His first known residence in Massachusetts was in Roxbury. Sarah, Susanna and James, his first American-born children, there first saw the light. He then moved to Dedham, for his sons, John, Moses and Daniel were born there. He then returned to Roxbury, for his youngest children, Patience and Jonathan, are recorded as born there, and James, the father, is there buried. He was made a freeman of Roxbury, 1690. He married, in Heptonstall, April 21, 1646, Miriam, daughter of Gideon Stansfield and his wife, Grace Eastwood, of Wadsworth, Yorkshire.

James and Miriam (Stansfield) Draper are buried at West Roxbury, Massachusetts, where the same stone marks the resting-place of both. They had nine children: Miriam, born in England, and the others in America: Susanna, Sarah, James, see forward, John, Moses, Daniel, Patience and Jonathan. The sons all married and founded families. The daughters also married, excepting Miriam, the eldest, who died in infancy before leaving England.

[This information is from Vol. I, pp. 110-113 of Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, edited by Cuyler Reynolds (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911). It is in SCPL's Reference collection at R 929.1 R45. Some of the formatting of the original, especially in lists of descendants, may have been altered slightly for ease of reading.]

James Draper, the Puritan, son of William Draper was born at Heptonstall in 1622 and died at Roxbury, Massachusetts, July 13, 1697. He married, at Heptonstall, April 21, 1646, Miriam, daughter of Gideon and Grace (Eastwood) Stansfield, of Wadsford, Yorkshire, England. She was christened at Heptonstall, November 27, 1625, and died at Roxbury, Massachusetts, in January, 1697/8. James Draper's first residence in America was in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and there his first American children were born. From Roxbury he removed to Dedham. Later he returned to Roxbury, where he and his wife died and are buried. He was made a freeman of Roxbury in 1690. Children:

Miriam, born February 7, 1647/8, in Heptonstall, England, died in infancy.

Susanna, about 1650, in Roxbury, Massachusetts, married 1668 John Bacon.

Sarah, 1652, married, May 9, 1669, James Hadlock.

James, see forward.

John, June 24, 1659 in Dedham, died April 5, 1749 in Dedham^[7]

Moses, September 15, 1663 in Dedham,^[8], perhaps baptized September 26, died August 14, 1693, in Boston.

Daniel, May 30, 1665 in Dedham,^[9] died in Dedham.

Patience, August 17, 1668 in Roxbury^[10], married, March 13, 1689, Ebenezer Cass.

Jonathan, March 10, 1670 in Roxbury^[11], died February 28, 1746-47, in Roxbury.

Sources

1. ↑ Draper, Thomas Waln-Morgan, The Drapers in America, being a history and genealogy of those of that name and connection, published 1892. Reference page 17
2. ↑ New England Marriages Prior to 1700
3. ↑ Yorkshire, England, Extracted Parish Records
4. ↑ West Yorkshire, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812
5. ↑ U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
6. ↑ Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
7. ↑ Hill, Don Gleason, The Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths . . . in the Town of Dedham . . . 1635-1845, pp. 7: "John, ye Son of James & Merjarie Dray, was born 24: 4m, 1659" & 78. Note: Mr. Hill, the transcriber, notes on page ii of his Introduction that 'in the name printed Dray, in the original the last letter may be intended as a contraction of 'per' instead of a 'y.' That is, "Dray" means "Draper." This dating of John's birth is based on that possibility.
8. ↑ Hill, Don Gleason, The Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths . . . in the Town of Dedham . . . 1635-1845, p. 10: "Moses, the Son of James & Meriam Drap[er], was born September 15, 1663"
9. ↑ Hill, Don Gleason, The Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths . . . in the Town of Dedham . . . 1635-1845, p. 10: "Daniell, the Son of James & Meriam Draper, was born May 30, 1665"
10. ↑ Suffolk, Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849, p. 113
11. ↑ Suffolk, Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849, p. 113

• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NB9Q-29D : 11 February 2018, James Draper, 28 Jul 1622); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 844,558.
• Smith, Mrs. Gertrude Howard. "Moses Case or Cass of Kent, Connecticut." The American Genealogist. Vol. 46-47, p. 39. [1]
• Preston, Belle. Bassett-Preston Ancestors (Tuttle Morehouse & Taylor Co., New Haven, Conn., 1930) Page 84

See also:

• Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
  Find A Grave: Memorial #6030771 (accessed 21 March 2024)
  Memorial page for James “The Puritan” Draper (1618-Jul 1691), citing Westerly Burying Ground, West Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by Bette Hartman (contributor 46633755).
• Wikipedia entry: Wikipedia contributors, "James Draper (settler)"
  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (accessed 21 March 2024)