W H Draper

 

William Henry Draper (1882-1960) was the son of Thomas Reed Draper and Olivia Belle Bennett of Milford Delaware.  In 1905 William would marry Effie Jones Reed (1886-1955) of Lewes, Delaware. William became employed by the railroad as an engineer.  He was transferred around and he was assigned to Franklin City, Virginia (where his daughter Sarah Olivia was born in 1907) then transferred to Delmar by 1920.  He seem to always have a side business going beside the railroad.  As you can see in the 1940s he had an Allis-Chalmers dealership.  In addition to his daughter he had a son; William Reed Draper(born in 1906).  In 1923 they moved into the house at 806 Grove street.  In 1924 Effie shocked everyone when at the age of 15 she ran off on Christmas eve with Glen Wright to be married in Princess Anne, Maryland.  Needless to say this was annulled.  Sarah Olivia became a nurse and went to live in New York state where in 1935 she married James Jerome Abraham.  They would return to the Lincoln Delaware area.  William Reed Draper would marry Ruth E Kelley and live out of state.  In 1944 William sold the house on Grove street to Samuel and Georgia Jones.  He moved to the Milford area.  It is assumed he had retired from the railroad in 1944.