Born in about 1622 and baptized July 28,1622 in
Heptonstall,
Yorkshire, England, James Draper was the fourth child of William Thomas Draper (1578–1635) and Grace Mitchell (1582–1635) of the same place. Draper became a
weaver, which was also the occupation of his father. He married, while in England, Miriam Stansfield on 21 April 1646, the daughter of Gideon Stansfield and Grace Eastwood, residents of
Wadsworth in Yorkshire. James emigrated to New England some time shortly after 1647. 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. He was an original proprietor of the town of
Lancaster, but appears to have never lived there. In 1690, Draper became a
freeman of Roxbury, and this is the last public record with his name until after his death. ,
West Roxbury,
Massachusetts In 1682, Draper and
Jonathan Fairbanks petitioned the Town of Dedham to build a fulling mill on
Mother Brook, but the selectmen granted the right to Draper and
Nathaniel Whiting instead. According to his tombstone, Draper died 13 July 1697, and the following month, on 19 August, his widow appeared before the
Suffolk County probate judge, petitioning the court to allow her two sons, James and Jonathan, to be given administration of her husband's estate. The ensuing inventory showed a very modest estate valued at £72, of which £25 was the value given for the house, shop, barn and home lot. The inventory also included an acre of meadow in Dedham. His wife, Miriam, died the January after her husband's death [1697/8], and both James and Miriam Draper share a tombstone in the
Westerly Burial Ground in
West Roxbury, now a neighborhood of
Boston. The entry plaque to the cemetery reads in part: "The oldest gravestone, from 1691, commemorates James and Merriam Draper, members of a prominent West Roxbury family." The year 1691 is incorrect; James died 13 July 1697 and his widow Miriam died the following January, which correctly reads "January 1697" on the marker, but technically should read 1697/8, as January was near the end of the year in the old calendar. Also, there was no town of West Roxbury when these people flourished; they lived in what was then called Roxbury. ==Family and descendants==