James Draper (settler)

James Draper
Born	1618 Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England
Died	July 1697 Roxbury, Massachusetts
Resting place	Westerly Burial Ground, West Roxbury
Occupation	Weaver
Spouse(s)	Miriam Stansfield
Children	Miriam, Susanna, Sarah, James, John, Moses, Daniel, Patience, Jonathan
Parent(s)	Thomas Draper

James Draper (1618–1694) was an early settler of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was born and married in Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England, and came with his wife to New England shortly after 1647. He was a weaver by profession, and settled in the Massachusetts town of Roxbury, but also lived for a short while in the towns of Dedham and Charlestown. He and his wife had nine children and many notable descendants. They are buried in the Westerly Burial Ground in West Roxbury, now a neighborhood of Boston, and share the oldest marker in the cemetery.

Born in 1618 in Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England, James Draper was the fourth child of Thomas Draper of the same place. Draper became a weaver, which was also the occupation of his father. He married, while in England, Miriam Stansfield, the daughter of Gideon Stansfield and Grace Eastwood, residents of Wadsworth in Yorkshire. The oldest child of James and Miriam Draper was born and died in England in 1647, shortly after which the couple immigrated to New England. Draper was an original proprietor of the town of Lancaster, but appears to have never lived there. He first resided in the Massachusetts town of Roxbury, where his next three children were born between about 1650 and 1654. His next residence was in Dedham where his following three children were born, but he returned to Roxbury where his last two children were born, and where he and his wife died and were buried. Draper also lived for a short time in Charlestown where he sold part of an orchard to Jonathan Carey in 1672. In 1690 Draper became a freeman of Roxbury, and this is the last public record with his name until after his death.

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