No postal markings on this stampless folded letter from Simon Draper to Timothy Paige in Harwick. One-page letter deals with appointment of Paige to a committee to "lay out a road in the town of Western" and provides meeting details. Draper was a prominent merchant in Brookfield and ran the stagecoach between Brookfield and Worcester, so a road would be of great significance to him.  He fought in the Revolutionary War under George Washington.  His children, see below, also gained prominence. A SIGNIFICANT HISTORIC DOCUMENT CONSIDERING DRAPER'S SIGNATURE and reference to THE TOWN OF WESTERN.

DRAPER, Simeon, b. Born in Brookfield, Massachusetts, USA on March 27, 765 to Joshua Draper and Sarah Wright.  At the age of sixteen was in Revolutionary war, stationed on Hudson River under Washington; kept store in Spencer, a hotel in Brookfield, and owned the stages between Worcester and Brookfield; for many years member of Legislature; of the Constitutional Convention in 1820, and commissioned captain in the militia by John Hancock. He married Aug. 24, 1786, Mary Bemis of Spencer; Sept. 10, 1832, Catherine Lewis of Boston, and d. Brookfield, Dec. 28, 1848.

In all, he fathered 16 children. Children (six b. Spencer — ten b. Brookfield), Abigail, b. Mar. 12, 1787, d. July 24, 1788; Betsey, b. Sept. 6, 17SS, d. Brookfield, Aug. 2, 1828; Henry, b. June 10, 1790; was lieutenant in war of 1812, stationed at Pittsfield; m. June, 1813, Harriet Stone of Pittsfield, and d. Rochester, N.Y., July 3, 1841. His son William B. was with Commodore Perry at the opening of Japan, and was the operator of the telegraph before the Emperor, which astonished him so much; Lorenzo, b. Mar. 27, 1792; merchant in Boston, New York, and Paris; consul general at Paris and Havre, under Presidents Harrison and Taylor; m. Apr. 1816, Rosamond Cook of Boston; (2) Mar. 27, 1826, Sarah K. Dolliver of Gloucester; Oct. 1, 1851, Mrs. Anna Alice Hawkins of Baltimore, and d. New York, Jan. 25, 1868; Horace, b. Jan. 30, 1794; merchant in Boston, Brookfield, and Springfield; m. Aug. 2, 1821, Eliza A. Tufts of Boston, and d. Springfield, June 21, 1846; Mary, b. Dec. 5, 1796, d. June 16, 1800; Sophia, b. Feb. 14, 1799, m- °ct- '3- 'Si", Henry Lewis of Boston, and d. Brookfield, Sept. 17,1870; William Frederic, b. Apr. 2, 1801, d. June 20, following; Francis, b. Dec 26, 1S02, d. Dec. 30, following; William Bemis, b. Feb. 15, 1804; was a merchant in Boston, Paris, and New York; resides at Flushing, LI.; m. Mar. 18, 1841, Elizabeth A. Haggerty of New York; Simeon, b. Jan. 19, 1806; a merchant in Boston and New York; prominent in politics; collector of port of New York, under President Lincoln; m. Oct. 30, 1834, Frances S. Haggerty of New York, and d. Whitestown, L.I., Nov. 6, 1S66; Afary Adeline, b. Aug. 21, 1807, m. June 13, 1831, Silas C. Herring of Albany, N.Y., and d. Brookfield, Aug. 19, 1837; Benjamin Harrison, b. Aug. 9, 1810, d. Brookfield, June 29, 1836; Sarah Ann, b. Feb. 27, 1812, m. Sept. 26, 1832, Emmons Twichell of Brookfield, and d. Sept 23, 1833; Joshua, b. Sept. 3, 1814, d. Worcester, Mar. 29, 1874; Theodore Sedgwick, b. June 15, 1816; was a merchant in New York; m. in fall of 1849, Elizabeth Morgan of Philadelphia, and d. New York, Apr. 3, 1878. [Horace, jun., son of Horace above, was with Admiral Farragut in the " Hartford," on the passage of the Forts, and the taking of New Orleans, during the Rebellion.]

Timothy Paige

• Born: 16 Feb 1757, Hardwick, Worcester, MA
• Marriage: Mary Robinson on 20 Jan 1780
• Died: 29 Oct 1821, Hardwick, Worcester, MA at age 64