9350

VOL. VII.

JANUARY, 1896.

No. 1.

WIDOW MARY DRAPER.

By ERASTUS WORTHINGTON.

[Authorities: Women of the American Revolution, by Elizabeth F. Ellet, Vol. II., 1851; Diaries of Nathaniel Ames and of Rev. William Clark of Dedham; Dedham Records (Hill), Vols. I. and II; Norfolk Probate Records and Records of Deeds; The Drapers in America, by Thomas Waln-Morgan Draper, 1881; Revolutionary Times, by Edward Abbott, 1879; Madam Knight's Journal, 1704.]

THE

HE name of Mary Draper of Dedham, for many years, in several books and publications, has been associated with some patriotic work, done by her during the opening days of the American Revolution, which entitles her to our grateful remembrance and admiration. The incidents of the narrative are by no means extraordinary, but such as might naturally transpire at such a time, when the actor was a woman of strong character, inspired by patriotic impulses, with the opportunityafforded of giving them expression.

The story is not now reproduced simply for rehearsal, since it has already been so well and fully told; but as the published accounts give no facts concerning the personal history of Mary Draper, or point out the spot where she lived, about which some interest has been expressed, and the present writer having made some recent researches for such information, with satisfactory results, in accordance with the request of the Dedham Historical Society, he feels justified in recalling the story as it has been told.

The account of Mary Draper's patriotic spirit and deeds first appeared in the "Women of the American Revolution," a work published in 1851 by Mrs. Elizabeth F. Ellet, a writer of reputation, and her book, now out of print, is well and favorably

Read before the Dedham Historical Society, December 4, 1895. The frontispiece follows a photograph which has been reproduced in "The Drapers in America," page 22, and is given here by the author's permission.