The Drake Family: One Mystery Leads to Another

West Union Village Cemetery, also known as “The Old Cemetery” is atop a small hill at the southern terminus of Market Street in West Union, Adams County, Ohio. The cemetery is neatly divided in half by a paved road; with northern hillside being the historic section, it’s southern slope a pauper’s field and across the road an active cemetery.The hillside residents are some of the earliest that I’ve found in Ohio, with dates of death as early as 1819. The older burying ground is dense with local limestone tablet, box tombs, iron-fenced family plots, and even a massive limestone crypt that once must have been visible from town before the surrounding trees enveloped it.

Standing alone from a large grouping of box tombs stands a small tablet monument. Despite being one hundred eighty one years old the great depth of the willows bows at the top and the inscription are nearly perfect.

“In memory of Martha Jane: daughter of Stephen B & Margaret B. Drake. Who died 30 July 1842, aged one year, seven months, and two days.”

Calculating the date backwards we can come to the conclusion that Martha Jane Drake was born December 28, 1840. We also know that her father was Stephen P Drake and her mother Margaret B Drake, with an unknown maiden name for her mother. A quick glance at existing records indicated that Martha Jane was not linked genealogically to her family, but with the above information that can be remedied.

Martha Jane’s grave was solitary, not part of a family plot and not near any other markers that could provide clues such as her being buried near family members such as her mother’s family. So with a reasonable suspicion that the family had temporarily lived in West Union or Adams County, but not long enough to have multiple burials for a family I began searching for records of residence in Adams, Scioto, Brown, and Highland counties.

I was soon rewarded.

In this marriage record from Highland County, Ohio, we can see that Stephen P Drake was married to Margaret Drake on October 25, 1838. This union fits within the timeframe for the birth of Martha Jane. Unfortunately, vital statistics records such as births and deaths, for this period, are scarce in rural areas such as Adams County as they were not required by law, or when required, enforced. Also, calamities such as fire have erased some essential records from history. What we are left with are future records that look backward such as census records that can sometimes only give us rough, and sometimes inaccurate estimates on information that is needed to move forwards. Such an example would be Stephen’s age: we can “guess” that he was at least 18 when he married, but allow a degree of flexibility in that guess by providing +/- 3 years on his estimated year of birth. So if we estimate that he was 18 when he married his estimated year of birth was 1820 with 1817 on the low end and 1823 on the high end of our search range. No other search criteria were limited; I wanted to find any record for anyone with his exact name that fit his age group. From there I would determine what the most probable records were based on other criteria.

One search result that returned as promising was the 1850 Federal Census. An S.P. Drake, a 32-year old male, whose occupation was a printer, and whose value of real estate owned was $1200 was located. We also see M.B. Drake, a 32-year-old female who was born in Virginia, and two children: Robert S Drake, age 7, S.A. Drake, age 3. This census record being enumerated by CP Chandler in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio, on July 24, 1850. There’s a lot of information to work with here, but we still aren’t 100% on the adults complete names, but the chances of this S.P. Drake and M.B Drake being the ones that we are looking for are looking pretty good. So let’s see if they are still in Portsmouth in 1860.

A search of the 1860 Federal Census find a family with the same composition of children plus one that would have been born between censuses. The occupation of the head of household is the same and the ages for everyone are also the same plus ten years. So it’s reasonable to say that this is the same household as the household seen on the 1850 census.

Those living in the household are Stephen P Drake, estimated to have been born in 1818. Margaret Drake, estimated to have been born in 1818. Robert S Drake, estimated to have been born in 1843. Sarah A Drake, estimated to have been born in 1847, and Anna Drake, estimated to have been born in 1854.

We’re now at a crossroads. After this census, most of the children will leave the household. The young women will marry, and their new surname left to chance that it was recorded in a nearby area. Also by 1860, the Civil War was looming and both men were of military age. The critical piece of missing information is placing the family in Adams County, Ohio, at the time of Martha Jane’s death. It was decided that as Robert S. was the oldest, with his estimated year of birth being within a year of Martha’s death, that he was the person most likely to yield the required information.

Like many young men his age, twenty-one-year-old Robert S Drake enlisted into the Army during the Civil War. From the United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914 we can see that Robert enlisted into the Union Army on July 1, 1863, at Cincinnati, Ohio. He listed his occupation as a druggist which agrees with his occupation as a druggist apprentice on the 1860 Census. Information that is more tangible to us is that he had brown hair, brown eyes, was of light complexion, and stood five foot six inches tall. His primary military occupation was as a hospital steward where he served at the Louisville, Kentucky Hospital under the command of the 100th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was discharged at Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 25, 1865.

Just after Robert S Drake‘s name, and before his age, are two columns: the town, county, or province and state, empire, or kingdom of his place of birth. There it is. West Union, Ohio. We can now reasonably surmise that the parents of Robert S Drake, Stephen P Drake and Margaret B Drake, were the parents of Martha Jane Drake.

“West Union Intelligencer The publication of this weekly was begun in 1841 by Stephen P Drake He continued its publication until the summer of 1845 when he sold out to Robert Jackman who continued it until his death in August 1851 During Mr Jackman’s ownership the paper was suspended for a few months in the year 1849 and when he resumed its publication the name was changed to The People’s Intelligencer and it was continued under that name during its existence in West Union After Mr Jackman’s death in 1851 see page 378 of this book Henry B Woodrow now living at 421 West Seventh Street Cincinnati Ohio continued the publication of the newspaper for Mr Jackman’s widow Mrs Elizabeth Jackman until February 1852 when he purchased the plant and took it to Manchester and continued its publication there about two years The paper was Whig in politics during its entire existence At the time Mr Drake began the publication of the Intelligencer West Union had been without a newspaper for a number of years the Free Press being the last When Mr Drake sold out in West Union he went to Portsmouth Ohio and started a paper called the Portsmouth Clipper which he published several years He was afterwards engaged in the newspaper business in Ironton During the Civil War he was a member of the Second West Virginia Cavalry and died in the army He was a brother of the late Samuel P Drake of Portsmouth.”⁶

A story too often told regarding the Civil War is of one brother returning home and another who would never return. The above schedule, a census of sorts, tells a more tragic story. A young son, a trained pharmacist, who served in a hospital, returned home, and a father, who at the age of forty-three, enlisted one month after his son as a Private in Company B, 2nd West Virginia Cavalry Regiment, and did not return.

The ordeal that led to the demise of Stephen P Drake was detailed in the June 10, 1869 edition of the Ironton Register as it was read on Declaration Day May 29, 1869:

“Stephen P. Drake, Co. B, captured by Mosby’s Guerrillas near Newtown, Va., March 5, 1864, and he with several other prisoners was started with a guard toward rebeldom. The second day after their capture, they killed the guard and escaped to the mountains, but were pursued by other rebels, and it is supposed that he was recaptured and killed, as he was never heard from afterward. He was a good soldier.”

An article from the December 17, 1864 Portsmouth Times further expands upon this story.

“Stephen P Drake, an old newspaper publisher, well-known in Portsmouth, and for many years connected with the press of this city was captured in Virginia some time ago, and is reported to have afterwards been killed. The report of his death, however, lacks confirmation, as far as we have been able to learn, and we hope it may prove untrue. The following which we find in the Ironton Register, of Thursday last, contains all the information concerning him that is known:”

“S.P. Drake, brigade postmaster in Crook’s division, formerly editor of the Lawrence county Clipper, was captured some weeks ago in company with six or eight others. His comrades watched their opportunity, while they were being conducted to the rear of the rebel army; and while passing through a slip of woods overpowered and killed their guard. All escaped to the Union lines except Mr. Drake. General Powell immediately ordered out a heavy cavalry force in search of him, but in this they failed. A few days later a contraband came into the lines and reported that Drake was recaptured and shot. Since then there is a flying rumor that Drake had arrived at Libby prison. We have nothing reliable, and cannot vouch for any of the above statements, only we know that he is a prisoner captured under these circumstances.’⁷

We do know in early September of 1863 that Stephen P Drake returned to Portsmouth, Ohio. Most likely to attend the funeral of his daughter Sarah “Addie” Drake, who was born April 19, 1847 and died August 31, 1863.

“Stephen P Drake, Esquire, formerly of this city, now a member of the Second Virginia Cavalry, gave us a call on Wednesday. He was looking remarkably well and his old friends were glad to see him.”⁸

In 1914, many with first-hand knowledge of the conflict were still alive, and a previous article regarding Mosby and his guerillas prompted a reader to submit the following to the Portsmouth Daily Times.

“Our remarks about Mosby and his men have caused some to become reminiscent. A citizen informs us that a very prominent Portsmouth man was killed by Mosby’s men during the civil war but whether by the consent of Mosby or not was never definitely known. It was Stephen P Drake, a well-known editor and publisher. He published several newspapers in Portsmouth, the last one being the Scioto Valley Republican, published by himself and his brother, the late Samuel P Drake, and was party literary and part political. Later it was run by C.E. Irwin and then Valjean got hold of it and he changed the name to The Blade, and as such, it was known till its demise a year ago.”

“Mr. Drake was close to or possibly beyond the military age when he enlisted as a private in a Union regiment and was serving in Virginia when he met his death. He was engaged in the service of carrying letters and other mail matter between the different regiments of his brigade and was stopped by some of Mosby’s men, and they doubtless taking him for some kind of a spy, shot him dead. It is doubtful if Mosby himself would have sanctioned the killing of a man of Drake’s appearance. The report of the killing came to Portsmouth through the columns of Eastern papers, and the particulars were never known. The feeling around here has always been strong against Mosby, our informant says, on account of this unwarranted killing.”

“Mr. Drake published papers in Jackson and Ironton, and a daughter is probably still living in the latter city.”⁹

Despite decades of speculation in the Scioto County and surrounding areas as to what occurred in 1864, it is known that on August 31, 1865, Margaret B Drake filed to receive a widow’s pension on behalf of her late husband. It is at this moment we can be certain that Margaret knew her husband would not return. Additional research into the final resting place of Stephen P Drake has yielded no results.

1. “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-BJ3F-M8?cc=1614804&wc=ZRQ2-C68%3A121349501%2C121552001 : 15 July 2014), Highland > Marriage records 1838-1857 vol 4-6 > image 38 of 327; county courthouses, Ohio.
2. “United States Census, 1850,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DZ89-RFB?cc=1401638&wc=95RS-828%3A1031310001%2C1034553701%2C1031540601 : 9 April 2016), Ohio > Scioto > Portsmouth > image 43 of 96; citing NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
3. “United States Census, 1860,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9BSC-2RK?cc=1473181&wc=7QCB-VTV%3A1589432777%2C1589434031%2C1589430488 : 24 March 2017), Ohio > Scioto > Portsmouth > image 156 of 159; from “1860 U.S. Federal Census – Population,” database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
4. “United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-81DD-T44?cc=1880762&wc=M61T-C68%3A176743001 : 22 May 2014), 147-148, 1862-1863, Duplicates > image 156 of 325; citing NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
5. “United States Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, 1890,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939V-5N9X-8R?cc=1877095&wc=M62D-TMW%3A174324001%2C174401101%2C174320903 : 22 May 2014), Ohio > Lawrence > All > image 120 of 158; citing NARA microfilm publication M123 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
6. Evans, N. W., & Stivers, E. B. (2000). A history of Adams County, Ohio, 1900: From its earliest settlement to the present time including character sketches of the prominent persons identified with the first century of the county’s growth. Milford, OH: Little Miami Pub.
7. (1864, December 17). Portsmouth Times, p. 3.
8. (1863, September 5). Portsmouth Times, p. 3.
9. Local Man Shot By Mosby’s Men. (1914, December 29). Portsmouth Daily Times, p. 4.
10. “United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9TYG-9H11?cc=1919699&wc=9FFK-YWL%3A212925901 : 22 May 2014), Doyle, James – Drinkwater, Alpheus W. > image 2231 of 4525; citing NARA microfilm publication T288 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).