William Draper Jr.

William Draper Jr. (1807–1886) was a farmer, shoemaker and merchant. The city of Draper, Utah was named for him. He served the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a missionary and held the roles of priest, high priest and bishop in the church.

Early life William Draper Jr. was born on April 24, 1807, in Richmond Township, Ontario, Canada (then Upper Canada). He was the fifth child of William Draper Sr. and Lydia Lathrop. He was the grandson of Thomas Draper and Lydia Rogers. William is a descendant of the early Massachusetts settler James Draper "The Puritan". He was baptized April 25, 1811 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

Joining the LDS church In June 1832, William heard the Gospel preached for the first time by Elder Miller and others in company with him. In January 1833, he heard Brigham Young preach that same Gospel, in the township of Loughborough Township, Upper Canada and he went on to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was baptized on March 20, 1833, in Loughborough Township. In June that same year, he was ordained a priest under the hands of Brigham Young. On September 11, 1834, William along with his wife and three children left Canada, and traveled to Kirtland, Ohio. This battle led to Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issue of the infamous "extermination order" on October 27, 1838, declaring, "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary, for the public peace." On March 17, 1839, William and his family left Missouri and headed west, with no destination and decided to settle in Pike County, Illinois. In 1842 when hostilities arose again for the Mormons, William and his family were ordered to leave for Hancock County and settled there in 1843. A great majority of the city of Draper was made up of the Draper's, William having so many children being a great contributor to the city's population increase. He would often run into his children or grandchildren on the street. One of his grandchildren, Kimball Mertilious Draper (188–1983) was a grandson of William and one day he met ran into his grandfather on the street in Moroni. William asked him whose child he was and he responded to him "you ought to know, you're my grandfather."

Death William died on May 28, 1886 in Freedom, Sanpete County, Utah, United States, at the age of 79. A monument for William Draper Jr. was built and placed in Draper Historic Park.

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