Bring Out Your Dead!

Several members of the Draper family built mausoleums in Hopedale Village Cemetery, starting with George Draper and ranging through his son the general, his son the governor, and his son and grandson, both of whom ran his company. And each mausoleum holds more than just men, and each “resident” has a story to tell.
The Drapers may have been wealthy enough to afford mausoleums or large headstones to celebrate their lives, but they were not beyond a family feud. Brothers William F. Draper, a Civil War general who became ambassador to Italy, and Eben S. Draper, who served as governor of Massachusetts, fought like a couple of school boys. Their feud tore the family apart, forcing the creation of a new company and keeping cousins from playing together. It took a woman, the general’s daughter Princess Boncompagni, to pull them back together. But the brothers took their animosity to the grave, and are buried on opposite sides of the cemetery.
Hear anecdotes about Hopedale’s past and how family ties spanned the town’s history, from Adin Ballou’s Practical Christian Community to the Draper years. Learn how money can buy great things but can’t keep people from being – well, people.
Join historians Allison Horrocks and Linda Hixon on Sunday, October 27 at 4:00 p.m. for a twilight tour of Hopedale Village Cemetery, starting at Hopedale war memorial near the Bancroft Park entrance. Bring an umbrella if it rains!
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