 Draper died in Whitestone, Queens County, New York in 1866, and was buried at Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan.Draper was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts on January 19, 1806, the eighth son and 12th child of Captain Simeon Draper (1765–1848), and his first wife, Mary "Polly" Bemis, the daughter of Col. Benjamin Bemis.He was a merchant's clerk in Boston, Massachusetts before coming to New York City where he settled as a merchant.