Joseph Naper

Joseph Naper, also known as "Joe Naper" and "Captain Joseph Naper" (1798–1862), was an early Illinois pioneer, ship captain, shipbuilder, businessman, surveyor, state militia officer, soldier, politician, and city planner. In 1831, Naper and his brother, John were credited with founding Naper's Settlement, the oldest Illinois community to be established west of, Fort Dearborn, now present-day Chicago. Naper's Settlement would be renamed Naperville, becoming the oldest town and first county seat of DuPage County, Illinois, later to be moved, in 1868, by county vote and displaced by Wheaton.

Joseph Naper was born in Bennington, Vermont, traveling west, with his parents, during his youth, to Ashtabula, Ohio, where he learned to be a ship builder, from his father. In 1809, Joseph Naper's sister, Amy Naper, married John Murray, of Ashtabula, Ohio, who would later become one of the original founding settlers of Naperville, Illinois. The Naper family ships traded goods on the Great Lakes, frequently stopping at Fort Dearborn, on Lake Michigan. On an early trip, Naper acquired lots near the fort, as did many of the first settlers to reach the Chicago River port.

On a later trip, in 1831, on the Telegraph, a ship built by Joseph Naper, he was joined by his brother, John Naper. The Naper families and five other families settled in the area, first known as Naper's Settlement, which later would become a part of DuPage County. Joseph Naper platted the town of Naperville, surveying the property and was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives for the first time in 1836. Here, Naper laid the groundwork and supervised passage of the bill, which separated DuPage County from Cook County, in 1839. Joseph Naper also, served on the same committee with Abraham Lincoln, then a newly elected legislator, from the Springfield area.

Joseph Naper served as a Illinois Militia captain, in the Black Hawk War of 1832 and was one of the many DuPage County men who served in the Mexican War of 1846.

Joseph Naper was one of the founding stockholders, in the 1850s, for the short-lived "Southwest Plank Road", now present-day U.S. Route 34 in Illinois, Ogden Avenue, which improved transportation between Aurora, Illinois and Chicago. Another major plank road stockholder was Colonel Julius M. Warren, of nearby Warrenville. Joseph Naper returned to the Illinois General Assembly in 1852. His aggressive actions, again provided a means for establishing new communities, within the state of Illinois. In 1857, Naper became the first village president of Naperville. As many early settlers had done, Naper engaged in a number of trades and businesses, as he helped to develop Naperville and Dupage County.

In 1862, during the height of the American Civil War, Joseph Naper died in Naperville, Illinois and was buried in Naperville Cemetery.