I wrote the paragraph above several years ago; probably in 2003. I hadn't seen any sort of evidence regarding Wickliffe and the gym, other that the circumstances mentioned above. In July 2006, while looking through some old Hopedale material at the Bancroft Library, I came across a handwritten paper about the gym that begins with the following paragraph:
"The building of the gymnasium was made possible only because of the gift of money for the purpose by one who wished to remain anonymous. It later became knowledge that Wickliffe Draper gave the gymnasium in memory of his father."
Unfortunately, the writer of this paragraph is also anonymous. I think it was probably written by Hopedale Historical Society member Margaret Woodhead. There are several other papers by her, written for the society, with similar handwriting. The idea that the donor was Wickliffe was probably held by people who knew who was who in the Draper family, including members of the Historical Society, but I don't think it was a common belief around town. Wickliffe had spent very little time in Hopedale after the early 1920s, and by 1955 there weren't many people who remembered him. The only guess that I recall hearing at the time, was the Princess Boncompagne might have been the donor. I think the reason for that was that while Wickliffe was largely forgotten, most people in Hopedale at the time the gym was built, either knew the princess, had seen her on a visit here, or at least had heard about her. When they tried to figure out who the donor was, she was the Draper who would come to mind.
Click here to read two Milford News articles about the opening of the gym. More on Wickliffe Draper Hopedale Street and Place Names
The Civil War wrought a great change in Hopedale. Excitement ran high, and with some, the Non-Resistant principles were overcome by the "Spirit of '76." The Post Office was at that time, a room in the house, now occupied by Mrs. Susan Whitney, and at mail time was filled with a crowd eager for the New York Tribune, with its details of the killed and wounded in engagements. The battlefield, "Andersonville Prison Pen," and disease claimed as victims several who enlisted from Hopedale, and the peaceful life of Hopedale was over for a time. Since then Hopedale has become a flourishing town; many of the old residents have passed away, and old landmarks are fast disappearing, but as advancing years bring more vividly memories of the past, I realize that some of the happiest hours of my life were those spent in "Old Community Days." Nellie T. Gifford, Hopedale Reminiscences, pp. 54-55.
There lived in Hopedale, in a little house at the corner of Union and Dutcher Streets, although Dutcher Street was not there then, four unmarried sisters. Mary Ann, albeit the youngest, so much desired to be married that she advertised for a husband in some paper. I think it was the "Phrenological Journal." One morning Mr. Humphrey came to my father's and asked if I would do an errand for a man who was stopping at his house. I gladly consented and upon going to the gentleman received a letter which I was requested to carry to Mary Ann Hayward and wait for a reply. I distinctly remember what excitement prevailed among the sisters and how Mary Ann hastened to pen the answer. This I duly carried to the waiting gentleman and O, what bliss!! I received a bright new ten-cent piece for my trouble. The man proved to be Justin Soule who had answered Mary Ann's advertisement. Soon after they were married and, as far as I know, lived happily ever after. Susan Thwing Whitney, Hopedale Reminiscences, pp. 18-19.
Mention should be made of what was done the same year [1843] towards the construction of our main thoroughfare through the village, now called Hopedale Street. It had been laid out in a northwesterly and southeasterly direction in the original survey of the residential portion of our territory without regard to any pre-existing highways, cutting across the old tortuous Magomiscock road near the junction of Hopedale and Union Streets, but little had been done towards making it passable. It ran over an uneven surface, rocky and considerably elevated in some places but low and marshy in others. Material excavated from the higher portions of it was transferred to the more depressed and wet localities, and before winter set in a tolerably good wagon-way was opened and a promising beginning made of a future excellent thoroughfare. People of the present generation little dream of the labors undergone in those early days and afterward to make the rough places of Hopedale smooth and its uncomely areas fair and beautiful. Adin Ballou, The History of the Hopedale Community, pp. 111-112.
The boys in the senior class at high school were given the week off to harvest the ice in the 1930s. We got about $30/35 each for the Washington trip expenses. We also collected newspapers which we tied up and sold to the Draper Corp. for the trip. William Barney, June 23, 2002
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