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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 theU.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's11th 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, U.S.
Died	January 28, 1910 (aged 67) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Hopedale Village Cemetery,Hopedale, Massachusetts
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Lydia Joy;[1] Susan Preston[2] m. May 22, 1890.[3]
Awards	BrevetColonel BrevetBrigadier General.
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States Union
Branch/service	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	September 5, 1861-October 12, 1864[4][5]
Rank	Private; (September 5, 1861);[4] *Second Lieutenant (September 18, 1861);[6] *Captain (August 12, 1862);[7] *Lieutenant Colonel (May 6, 1963);
Unit	Company B, 25th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.[8] *36th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.[7]
Battles/wars	American Civil War Siege of Vicksburg[9] Battle of the Wilderness[10] Siege of Petersburg[11] Second Battle of the Weldon Railroad[11]

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

Draper was born inLowell, Massachusetts on April 9, 1842, and was a descendant of earlyMassachusetts settlerJames Draper. Draper attended public, private, and high schools, he studied mechanical engineering and cotton manufacturing.

During theAmerican 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 thebrevet grades ofcolonel andbrigadier general of Volunteers.

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

Draper was elected as aRepublican to theFifty-third andFifty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897). Draper served as chairman of theCommittee 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 theAmbassador 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 AndreaBoncompagni-Ludovisi.^[13]

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

• List of Massachusetts generals in the American Civil War
• Massachusetts in the American Civil War

• 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 atFind a Grave

 This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.

• 1842 births
• 1910 deaths
• People from Hopedale, Massachusetts
• People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
• 1876 United States presidential election
• Union army generals
• 19th-century American diplomats
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts
• Politicians from Lowell, Massachusetts
• 19th-century United States representatives

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
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• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress