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William Franklin Draper
William Franklin Draper
U.S. Ambassador and Minister Plenipotentiary to Italy
	In office; 1897–1899
President	William McKinley
Preceded by	Wayne MacVeagh
Succeeded by	George von Lengerke Meyer
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; from Massachusetts's 11th district
	In office; March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897
Preceded by	Frederick S. Coolidge
Succeeded by	Charles F. Sprague
Personal details
Born	April 9, 1842; Lowell, Massachusetts
Died	January 28, 1910 (aged 67); Washington, D.C.
Resting place	Hopedale Village Cemetery, Hopedale, Massachusetts
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Lydia Joy;; Susan Preston m. May 22, 1890.
Awards	Brevet Colonel; Brevet Brigadier General.
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States; Union
Branch/service	United States Army; Union Army
Years of service	September 5, 1861-October 12, 1864
Rank	Private; (September 5, 1861);; Second Lieutenant (September 18, 1861);; Captain (August 12, 1862);; *Lieutenant Colonel (May 6, 1963);;
Unit	Company B, 25th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.; * 36th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.;
Battles/wars	American Civil War Siege of Vicksburg; Battle of the Wilderness; Siege of Petersburg; Second Battle of the Weldon Railroad;

William Franklin Draper (April 9, 1842 – January 28, 1910) was an American businessman, industrialist, and soldier who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.

Biography

Draper was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on April 9, 1842, and was a descendant of early Massachusetts settler James Draper. Draper attended public, private, and high schools, he studied mechanical engineering and cotton manufacturing.

During the American Civil War Draper enlisted as a private in the Twenty-fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, on September 9, 1861. He was soon elected Second Lieutenant of his company and was promoted rapidly to lieutenant colonel. After his discharge Draper was awarded the brevet grades of colonel and brigadier general of Volunteers.

After the war he joined his family's textile machine manufacturing business at Hopedale, Massachusetts, and patented many improvements. He also served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1876. He went on to serve as colonel on the staff of Governor John Davis Long from 1880 to 1883.

Draper was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897). Draper served as chairman of the Committee on Patents (Fifty-fourth Congress), however he was not a candidate for renomination in 1896. He later served as president of the Draper Co. upon its incorporation in 1896. Later he was the Ambassador and Minister Plenipotentiary to Italy 1897–1899.

Draper was married twice: to Lydia Joy from 1862 until her death in 1884, and to Susan Preston, daughter of General William Preston of Kentucky, who survived him. His second marriage may be the only one in which a Union general married the daughter of a Confederate general. Their daughter Margaret Preston Draper married Italian aristocrat Prince Andrea Boncompagni-Ludovisi.^[13]

He died in Washington, D.C., on January 28, 1910, he was interred in Village Cemetery, Hopedale, Massachusetts.

References

^ Draper, William Franklin (1909), Recollections of a Varied Career, Boston, Ma: Little, Brown, And Company, p. 78
^ Draper, William Franklin (1909), Recollections of a Varied Career, Boston, Ma: Little, Brown, And Company, pp. 201–202
^ Draper, William Franklin (1909), Recollections of a Varied Career, Boston, Ma: Little, Brown, And Company, p. 202
^ ^a ^b Draper, William Franklin (1909), Recollections of a Varied Career, Boston, Ma: Little, Brown, And Company, p. 34
^ Draper, William Franklin (1909), Recollections of a Varied Career, Boston, Ma: Little, Brown, And Company, p. 176
^ Draper, William Franklin (1909), Recollections of a Varied Career, Boston, Ma: Little, Brown, And Company, p. 35
^ ^a ^b Draper, William Franklin (1909), Recollections of a Varied Career, Boston, Ma: Little, Brown, And Company, p. 76
^ Draper, William Franklin (1909), Recollections of a Varied Career, Boston, Ma: Little, Brown, And Company, p. 36
^ Draper, William Franklin (1909), Recollections of a Varied Career, Boston, Ma: Little, Brown, And Company, p. 111
^ Draper, William Franklin (1909), Recollections of a Varied Career, Boston, Ma: Little, Brown, And Company, p. 154
^ ^a ^b Draper, William Franklin (1909), Recollections of a Varied Career, Boston, Ma: Little, Brown, And Company, p. 170
^ Date on Statue
^ "Princess Margaret Preston Draper (Boncompagni) to undergo medical treatment". The Baltimore Sun. 22 March 1922. p. 8. Retrieved 5 July 2021.

External links

Men of Mark in America Biography & Portrait

United States Congress. "William Franklin Draper (id: D000488)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
William Franklin Draper at Find a Grave

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Wayne MacVeagh	Ambassador and Minister Plenipotentiary to Italy 1897–1899	Succeeded by George von Lengerke Meyer
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Frederick S. Coolidge	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Massachusetts's 11th district March 4, 1893-March 3, 1897	Succeeded by Charles F. Sprague