The Draper Family of Kansas and Oklahoma

Ephraim Draper apparently came to this country from England in the mid-eighteenth century.1

His son Thomas was a Quaker who attended the Western Branch Monthly Meeting in Southampton, Virginia.2 He migrated first to Canton, Stark County, Ohio, and then to Rush County, Indiana. In 1840 a "common" school was located on his property there.3

Thomas and his wife Mary Turner had at least ten children who were born between 1811 and 1828, probably all in Virginia. Ephraim was born in 1814 and died in 1850 of measles.4 His wife Catherine was left with five young children, ranging in age from a newborn up to twelve. This oldest son was named William.

Frank Draper, age 17

Frank Draper, age 17, in about 1890

William Draper settled in Kansas and married Zelinda Kirby. The Kirbys were another Quaker family. William bred and raised horses. It's said he mostly sold them to the U.S. Calvary. In almost every picture of his son Frank, there's also a horse. Around 1889 (the date of the Oklahoma land rush) William and at least some of his grown sons moved to Logan County, Oklahoma.

Frank Draper

Frank Draper

Sources:

  1. Ancestry.com. Madison County, Indiana History [database online]. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2004. Original data: Forkner, John L. History of Madison County Indiana. Chicago and New York: Lewis Publishing, 1914. Pages 599-600

  2. Ancestry.com. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol. 6 [database online]. Orem, UT: Ancestry.com, 1998. Original data: Hinshaw, William Wade. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Volume 6. Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Bros., 1938-.

  3. "1840 U.S. census, population schedule," Ripley Township, Rush County, Indiana, National Archives microfilm M704, roll 93; page 537, dwelling 725, family 730

  4. Sue Reed, transcriber, "1850 Madison County, Illinois Federal Mortality Schedule," http://www.iltrails.org/madison/mcdead2.htm, 1998, downloaded 15 August 2004.