VIRGIL DRAPER
The first American ancestors of the Draper family were James Draper and
Miriam Stansfield, his wife, of Heptonstall Parish, Vicarage of Halifax,
Yorkshire, England, who came to this country and settled in Roxbury, near
Boston, Mass., about 1650. James Draper was a son of Thomas and was made a
freeman of Roxbury in 1690. The line of descent from Thomas to the subject
of this memoir is as follows: (1P Thomas, (2) James, (3) James, (4) Josiah,
(5) Josiah, and (7) Virgil. James Draper (3) was born in Roxbury in 1654,
married Abigail Whitney, of Dedham, Mass., February 18, 1681, and died April
30, 1698. He was a soldier in King Philip’s War in 1675. James Draper (4)
son of James (3), was born in 1691, married first, Rachel Addis, and second,
Abigail Child, and died in 1768. He was captain of the Trained Bands of
Militia in his district. Josiah (5) son of James (4) and Abigail (Child)
Draper, was born in Stoughton, Mass., September 12, 1727, and married Sarah
Ellis. Their son, Josiah (6) was born in Dedham, Mass., October 14, 1753,
and died in Attleboro, Mass., May 17, 1819. He married Miss Mary Mann,
daughter of Dr. Bezaleel Mann, of Attleboro, and sister of Newton Mann,
whose portrait and biography appear in this work. September 25, 1778, he e
enlisted as drummer in Captain Plympton’s company of Medfield, Mass.,
volunteers, and served creditably in the war of the Revolution. He had
thirteen children, of whom Virgil was the eighth.
Virgil Draper, born in Attleboro, Mass., January 4, 1789, inherited all the sturdy characteristics of his long line of worth New England ancestry and besides was liberally endowed with those native attributes which make the successful man. He acquired his rudimentary education in the public schools of his birthplace, interspersing it with a practical experience which proved valuable in after life. IN 1806 he came to Whitesboro, Oneida County, N. Y., to live with his maternal uncle, Dr. Seth Capron, and immediately entered the newly established cotton mills there to learn the manufacture of cotton goods in all its branches. The principal owners of these mills were Dr. Capron and Newton Mann, and in them Mr. Draper remained until 1822, when he came to Rome, N. Y., as superintendent of Dominick Lynch’s mill. About two years later he went to Stittville, Oneida County, and established a cotton mill, which he sold out in 1827. Returning then to Rome he purchased the Lynch waterpower and mill property at what is known as “Factory Village” and engaged in connection with the establishment. He continued this business with marked success until about 1840, when he retired. In 1827 he also purchased the property on the corner of Spring and Dominick streets, where the Lynch residence had stood and which was in 1825 destroyed by fire, and erected the present dwelling, which is occupied by his daughter and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. H. K. White. The Lynch house was the first structure built on the historic site of Fort Stanwix after that military stronghold had been demolished, and which embraced the site where the Draper homestead now stands.
Mr. Draper always manifested a lively interest in the growth and prosperity of Rome, to which he liberally contributed through various important enterprises. He was one of the founders of the Fort Stanwix (now the Fort Stanwix National) Bank and served as its vice-president until his death, which occurred in Rome on April 6, 1867. He was heavily interested in Rome real estate and numerous business projects, which materially promoted the general welfare and advancement. He was always a conspicuous figure in local elections and in political affairs, not for the purpose of seeking office, for that he steadfastly refused, but for the good of his party and town. Originally a Whig and subsequently a Republican he was one of the few who contributed towards and procured the establishment of the Roman Citizen as a Whig newspaper in 1840. He unflinchingly stood by his convictions, and possessed a keen discrimination between right and wrong. He was a constant attendant of the Presbyterian Church and required the same regular attendance of his family. Firm in friendship, cautious in expressing opinions, an earnest advocate of temperance, and a man of strict integrity, uprightness of character, and singleness of purpose, he was successful in every sphere of life. He was a man of few intimate friends but to those he was closely attached. Starting without a dollar he accumulated by his own industry an ample fortune, and in every respect was a self-made man.
He married Miss Eliza Holmes, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Bullard) Holmes, of Attleboro, Mass., who died July 3, 1872, in the eightieth year of her age. They had three children: Frances, born December 1, 1822, married Joseph A. Dudley (died in 1884), an early and prominent druggist and business man of Rome and later a wholesale druggist in New York City, and died in 1872; Mary, who married first Henry S. Hill (died in 1854) a druggist of Rome, and second, Henry K. White, of Spencer & White, one of the oldest dry goods merchants in this city; and Julia H. who married her second cousin, Sidney R. Kinney, grandson of Newton Mann, who was engaged in the drug business in Rome until his death in 1861. Mr. Draper’s three sons-in-law- Messrs. Dudley, Hill, and Kinney-occupied one after another the same drug store and dwelling house, and all were representative business men.
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