Mary (Draper) Loker (abt. 1626 - abt. 1697)

Born about 1626 in England [uncertain]

Wife of John Loker — married about 1650 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died about 1697 at about age 71 in Sudbury, Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

Origins
At this time no definitive record has been discovered that explains Mary Draper’s origin. Based upon the following reasoning, she might have been the daughter of Thomas Draper and his wife Susan Horsefall Draper. Thomas & Susan Draper had a daughter Mary who was baptized 1630. (ref__) Thomas Draper's brother, James Draper, immigrated to Roxbury, Massachusetts between 1647 and 1650. James was an early proprietor of Lancaster, Mass which is west of Roxbury in Worcester County. Mary could have arrived with her uncle. Lancaster is the location where Mary Draper’s daughter, Mary Loker, married.

James Draper also had a sister named Mary; she married Christopher Shackelton in 1630 and is known to have remained in England. Another thing that strengthens the possibility of Mary Draper being a niece of James Draper is that several of Mary’s grandchildren through Mary Loker share names with James’ and Thomas’ siblings and children (James, Sarah, Martha, Susanna/Susan).

Marriage and Children
Torrey gives the following synopsis of this couple:

LOKER, John (?1613-1653) & Mary [DRAPER?] (-1697+); by 1650, ca 1640?; Sudbury, Mass. ^[1]

Mary and John Loker had the following two children born in Sudbury before John's untimely death: ^[2]

• John Jr., b. 2 Dec 1650; named in his father's will.
• Mary, b. 28 Sep 1653, Sudbury, Massachusetts; born after father's death which is why she is not named in his will; m. Jonas Prescott (1648-1717); d. 28 Oct 1735, Groton, Middlesex, Mass. ^[3]

Death
Mary Loker died in 1697 Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts. No record of her remarrying exists. ^[4]

Research Notes
Between 1610 and 1630, Family Search has records of 30 infants named Mary Draper baptized across England. However, only 2 known Draper families settled in Massachusetts in the mid 1600’s: James Draper & his wife Miriam Stanfield in Roxbury and Roger Draper and his wife Mary Hadlock in Concord. Roger and Mary had no children named Mary, and we know nothing of Roger’s family.

Some ancestry tree's have Mary Draper as the daughter of James Draper and Miriam Stansfield. However, this couple married in Heptenstall, Yorkshire in 1646, only 4 years before our Mary was married.

Sources

1. ↑ Clarence A. Torrey, compiler, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (CD version) (Boston, MA: NEHGS, 2001), citing Stevens-Miller 60, 143; Thom Anc. Chart 6; Bent Anc. 27; Newton (,4) 17; Fallass 130, 134; Prescott 42; White Fam. Quar. 3:108; Wells (,5) 113; Reg. 9:199, 49:341, 64:136; Warner-Harrington 414}
2. ↑ Newton Genealogy, genealogical, biographical, historical, being a record of the descendants of Richard newton of Sudbury and Massachusetts; Part I; pg. 17; Publisher Ancestry.com Operations Inc Publisher Date 2005Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 13980 #24 (accessed 8 June 2022)
3. ↑ NEHGR, 1847-2011; [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Accessed 27 Sep 2019.
4. ↑ See Torrey source.

• NEHGS Register, Volume 143, page 330 (1980); Marriage 1650, Sudbury
• Marriage: "U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700"
  Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD, USA; Volume Title: New England Marriages Prior to 1700
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 3824 #158085 (accessed 8 June 2022)
  Mary Loker marriage to John Loker in 1650 in New England, USA.

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Drapwer-1 created through the import of Family Nov 2011.GED on Sep 6, 2011 by Jim Tarbet.
• WikiTree profile Draper-216 created through the import of Tom.ged on Jun 1, 2011 by Tom Elliott.
• WikiTree profile Draper-398 created through the import of DurlingJamesO_AncWithDeathAft1600.ged on Feb 19, 2012 by Sue Durling.
• Primary sources, and editing by direct descendant Johnson-43462