Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-09-03

of the Mohawks. In this way he secured
an unequalled historical collection Of orig
inal diaries, maps, notes and manuscripts,
filling about 25O manuscript volumes, and
covering the whole sweep of the Anglo
American settlement and border warfare
of the West from the first fight in the
Virginia Valley in 1912, to the death of
In his search for information DR..
Draper on one journey travelled 500 miles
on foot. Once his feet became so sore that
he was obliged to crawl for miles on his
hands and knees to settlement. Scores OF
times his life was IN danger by swollen
streams, in snagged steamers and from
falling trees, but he never faltered in his
effort to clear up some obscure point in the
life of one OF his heroes. One of the most
remarkable things i'll connection with DR..
Draper's active life is that he has written
few books. Nearly all his works are still
IN manuscript form.
DR.. Draper's greatest labor, aside from
his historical research and writing, was
performed while secretary of the Wiscon-
SIN Historical Society, position to which
he was appointed III 1854, after serving a
year on the executive committee. leheld
the position thirty-tive years. He devoted
great pOrti0N OF his time to the work of
the society, aiding largely in gathering the
10000 volumes and documents IN the state
library, and editing its pamphlet issues
lectlons. 1t has owing principally,
to DR.. Diapers efforts, one of the noblest
collections made by any historical society;
vast mass OF original material, written
mostly by border warriors, pioneers and
voyageurs-men competent to discuss the
topic on which they wrote. Dr.. Diapers
name appears signed to every annual re-
port from first to last for thirty-tive years;
he raised money, and found rare and curl
Gus documents. IN the fall of 1857 Mr.
Draper was chosen state superintendent of
public instruction, an office which he held
three years. He was the father of the
school library system. Forty years ago
Granville College conferred on Mr.. ORA
per the honorary degree of master of arts;
and in 1871 the University of Wisconsin
that of LII. d. He was either an honora-
ry or corresponding member of every his
torical society in the United States.
DR.. Draper has published several inn
portant historical works, but they are few
in number compared with his eXtraordi-
nary rich mine OF history and biography.
Besides the eight volumes OF collections OF
the State Historical Society, several
pamphlets and two elaborate school re-
ports, he produced "The Helping Hand;
An American Home Book for Town and
Country" 1850; "King's Mountain and
It's Heroes" (1SS0); "Mecklenburg Declare
tion,'' and one or two other works. Or;
Draper'S vast collection OF manuscript will
not be lost, however. 1t understood that
he has bequeathed all the results of his
years of labor to the State Historical So
ciety.
DR.. Draper came from good old Puritan
stock. His father was Luke Draper, OF
the fifth generation from James Draper,
who settled at RoXbury, Mass, about 1850,
while his mother was Harriet HoiSingtOn,
from an equally old New England family.
Lyman G. Draper was born at the mouth
of Eighteen Mile Creek, on the shore of
o1-r E,,n fl,n r ,1Nrlrr Fri1a
County, N. Y, on September IA. 1916.
The DraperS of colonial days were loyal
sons of freedOm-lOving pioneers, and Mr..
Diapers paternal grandfather, Jonathan
Draper, served IN the revolutionary war III
the main army under Washington. His
ancestors on his mothers side were equal
ly loyal, his mother father being killed in
the defense of Buffalo against the British
on December 80, 1878. His own father
was gallant soldier, fighting through the
war against the right of search, and being
twice taken prisoner by the BRUSH on the
Niagara frontier.
Mr. Draper spent his boyhoOd at Spring
field Penn. and Lockpoit, n. Y, where
his parents successfully resided. He
worked year or two on his fathers farm,
attending the neighboring school at other
times and doing the shoe repairing for the
family. He earned pocket money by pick
ing blackberries and selling them at cents
a quart, and one summer carried a brick
hod at 1917 cents day. He subsequently
engaged for time in clerking in store.
in 1888 he spent some time at Mobile, Ala,
returning north by way of New Orleans
and the Mississippi River, Immediately aft
erward entering Granville College, Ohio,
where be took a years course. HIS par
ents having removed from Lockport to
Toledo, o., he visited them there and took
part with the Buckeyes in a sklrmish
with the Wolverines, III what is known as
'the Battle of Mud Creek" III the suburbs
of Toledo, one OF the incidents of the
Ohio-Michigan boundary war. In the au-
tumn of 1886 Mr.. Draper entered the Hud-
son River Seminary, in Columbia County,
n. Y, and after year took up his resi-
dence at Alexander, Genesee County, n.
7. In 1910 Mr.. Draper went to PontotOe,
Miss, where he edited a paper for short
time, after year leaving the printing of
fee for farm. In 1912 he went to Buffalo,
living in town in Mississippi. at Baltimore
and near Philadelphia. In 1852 he came
to Madison. having married the widow of
his friend and patron, Mr.. Remsen. Here
he resided to the time of his death.
In personal appearance DR.. Draper
would have attracted attention anywhere.
He was small, wiry man, with hair and
beard of silver whiteness. His eye pre-
served the brightness of youth up to the
time of the stroke that proved to be the be-