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Thomas Harrison Draper
d.1902
Facts and Events
Transcribed from History of Wyandotte County Kansas and it s people ed. and comp. by Perl W. Morgan. Chicago, The Lewi s publishing company, 1911. 2 v. front., illus., plates, po rts., fold. map. 28 cm. [Vol. 2 contains biographical data . Paged continuously.] p. 722-723 transcribed by Bryan Morr is, student from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Bax ter Springs, Kansas, on Feb. 2, 2001. EVERETT D. DRAPER. - A native son of the Sunflower state wh o has here attained to distinctive success along business l ines and who is known as one of the representative exemplar s of the plumbing and heating industry not only in the metr opolis of Wyandotte county but also in the state, Mr. Drape r holds precedence as one of the progressive business men o f Kansas City and as a citizen of distinctive loyalty and p ublic spirit. His well equipped establishment is situated a t 644 State avenue, from which headquarters he controls a l arge and important business. Everett D. Draper has the distinction of having been born i n Topeka, the capital city of Kansas, and the date of his n ativity was February 12, 1875. He is a son of Thomas H. an d Margaret (Davidson) Draper, both natives of Greensburg, D ecatur county, Indiana, where the former was born in 1839 a nd the latter in 1837, - these dates bearing evidence of th e fact that the respective families were founded in the ol d Hoosier state in the pioneer epoch of its history. The fa ther died in 1902 and the loved wife and mother was summone d to the life eternal in January, 1910, their marriage havi ng been solemnized in 1858. Of their nine children only tw o are now living, - Isaac A., who is a resident of Denver , Colorado, and Everett D., whose name introduces this revi ew. Thomas Harrison Draper was reared and educated in his nativ e state, where he was actively engaged in agricultural purs uits at the time of the Civil war. He and his brother Hug h did a profitable business at this time by following the U nion forces in the field, purchasing horses and mules tha t had been worn down in the service and after feeding the a nimals and getting them into good order again they resold t hem to the government for army purposes. They thus bought a nd sold thousands of the animals, and through their energ y and enterprise did much to further the successful work o f the Union forces in the field. In 1871 Thomas H. Draper d isposed of his property in Indiana and came to Kansas. He s ecured from the government a tract of land where the city o f Topeka is now located, in Shawnee county, and there engag ed in farming and stock-growing as one of the sterling pion eers of that section of the state, where he became a promin ent and influential citizen. Later he built up a large an d prosperous business as a buyer and shipper of live stock , and in 1887 he removed to Kansas City, Kansas, where he c ontinued to reside until his death and where he was identif ied with various lines of enterprise tending to conserve th e normal development and progress of the community. He wa s a stalwart Republican in his political proclivities and b oth he and his wife held membership in the Methodist Episco pal church. Everett D. Draper is indebted to the public schools of hi s native state for his early educational advantages, whic h included attendance in the schools of Armourdale, Argenti ne and Kansas City, Wyandotte county, and as a youth he ent ered upon an apprenticeship to the plumber`s trade in Kansa s City. He became a skilled artisan in this line and in 189 8 he here engaged in the general plumbing and heating busin ess in an independent way. He began operations on a modes t scale and by energy and honorable dealings he has built u p an enterprise that is one of the largest of its kind in t he city. In September, 1909, he was appointed by the Kansa s City Mercantile Club, of which he is a valued member, t o draft a city ordinance providing for the installation o f a practicable sanitary system in connection with sewerag e and other public utilities. He is a member of the state b oard of examiners, before which must appear those who wis h to enter into active work at the plumber`s trade, and, be sides being secretary of the Kansas Master Plumbers` Associ ation, a position which he has held since 1906, he has als o been vice-president of the National Plumbers` Associatio n since 1901. Broad-minded and public-spirited in his civic attitude, Mr . Draper takes an active interest in public affairs of loca l order and in a more generic sense his economic ideas ar e indicated by the stanch allegiance which he accords to th e Republican party. In the Masonic fraternity he is affilia ted with Kaw Lodge, No. 272, Ancient Free and Accepted Maso ns; Wyandotte Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch Masons; Caswell Co nsistory, No. 5, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which h e has received the thirty-second degree; and Abdallah Templ e, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine , in the city of Leavenworth. He is also identified with ot her civic organizations in his home city, where he is popul ar alike in business and social circles. In a retrospectiv e way it may be stated that Mr. Draper is a scion of famili es, of English lineage, that were founded in Virginia in th e Colonial era of our national history. On the 29th of December, 1898, Mr. Draper was united in mar riage to Miss Inez Dale, who was born at Guthrie Center, Gu thrie county, Iowa, and who is a daughter of John and Ann a L. Dale, both of whom were born at Hamburg, Pennsylvania , and the lineage of each of whom is traced back to stanc h German origin. They were numbered among the pioneers of G uthrie county, Iowa, where Mr. Dale became a successful far mer and stockgrower, and where he continued to reside unti l his death. His wife now maintains her home in Kansas City , Kansas, and of their four children three are living. Mr . and Mrs. Draper have one son, Lawrence.
_EMAF: 0
Alive: 0
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