was reorganized (historian William Tucker describes it as a "coup" by Eben and his brother George) in the 1890s, at which time Eben Draper became its president. Hopedale as at the time seen as a model company town. The Drapers owned most of the housing in the town, but did not charge excessive rents to the factory workers, and offered services such as medical care to their employees. The company was, however, a nonunion shop that did not pay very high wages, and the Drapers also moved some of their production to lower-wage areas of the southern United States during his administration of the business. Entry into politics Draper served as a private in the Massachusetts First Corps of Cadets before and during the 1898 Spanish–American War, serving as president of the Massachusetts Volunteer Association. Draper was a leading figure of the "Young Republican Club" (later just the "Republican Club"), whose members dominated the state Republican Party establishment in the early 20th century. Like his father and brothers, he was also a strong supporter of protectionist tariffs. He assisted his father in founding the Home Market Club of Boston, a protectionist organization in New England. He served as chairman of the Congressional campaign committee which waged a successful campaign to send his brother William as a protectionist to the US House of Representatives. He was then elected as chairman of the Republican State Committee, serving on several victorious campaigns. In 1896 he was elected chairman of the Massachusetts Republican delegation to the St. Louis Convention, which nominated William McKinley for president. During the convention, he was instrumental in assisting Henry Cabot Lodge to secure a plank in the party platform favoring the gold standard. He also served in the presidential election of 1900 as a Presidential elector, again supporting McKinley. Governorship In 1905, Draper was nominated and elected as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, considered by the party to be a stepping stone in an "escalator" of statewide offices culminating in the governorship. Draper served for three terms under Governor Curtis Guild Jr., acting as governor for a significant part of 1908, when Guild was ill with pneumonia and appendicitis. Draper and Guild were emblematic of growing divisions in the party: Guild was progressive and reform-oriented, supporting tariff reform, while Draper was conservative, pro-business, and anti-reform. While acting as governor, Draper rejected a pro-labor nominee chosen by Guild for the state's