2. Samuel² Drake (Samuel¹) was born before 1724, probably about 1720. He arrived, probably from England in 1735 in the company of his father, ex hypothesi, and settled in western Virginia. He was probably one of the Samuel Drakes involved in the estate papers of William Thompson of Bedford County, Virginia in 1763-1767 (ante). In 1768 a Samuel Drake paid in regard to the settlement of the estate of Malcom Campbell in Augusta County, Virginia.²⁵ In 1770-1 Samuel Drake, Joseph Drake, and [Ephr]aim Drake were among the tithables taken by William Ingles on the New River in Botetourt County.²⁶ He was in Montgomery County, Virginia, along with his son Ephraim in 1782.²⁷ Samuel moved to Fayette County, Kentucky by 1788, and eventually to Tennessee where he made his will 6 December 1795, naming sons Ephraim, Nathaniel, and William, and daughters Elizabeth Daughtery, Mary Crockett, Rebecca Newell, Rachel Shepherd, Margaret Livingston, Sarah, and Effie.²⁸ According to family accounts, Samuel married (1) Margaret Pottle and (2) Mary Cox.

Issue of Samuel² Drake:

6.       i.       Joseph³ Drake, the "Longhunter, " born about 1745-50.²⁹ He was noted as an explorer in Fincastle County in 1773³⁰ and a juror in Montgomery County in 1778.³¹ Joseph Drake’s expedition of 1777 is mentioned among the records pertaining to Lord Dunmore’s War.³² In 1778 Joseph moved from New River to Kentucky where, near Boonesborough, he was killed by Indians.³³ Joseph married Margaret Buchanan about 1773 and was survived by at least one son named John.
7.        ii.        Samuel Drake, styled "Jr." He was in Fayette Co, Kentucky in 1788.
8.        iii.      Ephraim Drake, married Ann Buchanan about 1778.³⁴
9.        iv.      William Drake.
10.      v.       Elizabeth Drake, married [------] Daugherty.
11.      vi.      Mary Drake, married [-------] Crockett.
12.      vii.     Rebecca Drake, married [-----] Newell.
13.      viii.     Rachel Drake, married [------] Shepherd.
14.      ix.      Margaret Drake married [------] Livingston.
15.      x.       Sarah Drake.
16.      xi.      Effie Drake.

3. John² Drake (Samuel¹) was born before 1724, probably about 1720. He came to Virginia, probably from England, in company with his father in 1735, probably arriving at the port of Philadelphia, ex hypothesi, but traveling on to Virginia. In 1755 he was involved in a disturbance on the Yadkin River area of North Carolina (ante). In 1761 he was involved in a lawsuit with Lanty Armstrong³⁵ in Augusta County, Virginia.³⁶ He appeared in the records of the estate of William Thompson in 1763-1767 along with Samuel Drake(s) and Benjamin Drake.³⁷ In 1767 he was involved in another legal matter regarding the estate of Robert Andrews in Augusta County.³⁸ On 3 August 1771 a John Drake, patented 323 acres adjacent his own land and the land of James and Francis Green in Augusta County.³⁹

According to newspaper reports of 1773, Cherokee Indians killed Samuel, a son of John Drake of Virginia, along with a son of Captain Russell and a son of Daniel Boone.⁴⁰ I have not definitely identified this John² Drake in records after this date.

There are records of what was probably a different John Drake who served as a juror in southwest Virginia in 1773, 1779, and 1782-3 and was an overseer of tithables in 1778.⁴¹ This younger John Drake was a petitioner in Botetourt County in 1781 and in Yohogania County in 1782.⁴² A John Drake was a taxpayer in Botetourt in 1782 and 1784.⁴³

I believe it is very probable that the elder John² Drake is the John Drake memorialized in the traditions of the Drake family of Abbeville, South Carolina. He might have died in Virginia, but it is more likely that he moved with his son or sons to South Carolina after the death of his son Samuel. So far no record of him has been uncovered in South Carolina, so perhaps he died shortly after arrival there. The family tradition dates his death to 1799, but this is probably a memory of the death date of his putative son Thomas. John apparently died before the 1790 census. In the Drake Cemetery in Donalds, South Carolina there is a commemorative stone that reads, "This spot is forever sacred to the memory of John Drake who came from Dover, England in 1735 and died in 1799."

Marital information about John Drake is unknown, but his wife might have been Margaret [---------] based by inference on the generational error in Nell McNish Gambill’s work. Other than for Samuel there is no specific record of children. However, a probable list can be constructed.

Probable issue of John² Drake:

          17.       i.    Samuel³ Drake, born about 1750. Killed 1773.

+       18.       ii.    Thomas Drake, of whom presently.

+       19.       iii.    Edmund Drake, of whom presently.

There were possibly other children.


25   2 Sept 1768, Chalkley, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County 1745-1800, Vol. 3, p. 106.
26   Botetourt County Tithables 1770-1771, The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 10, 1966, p. 54.
27   A. B. Fothergill and J. M. Naugle, Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-1787.
28   Gambill, op. cit.
29   There are existing genealogical accounts which throw this Joseph Drake back and make him the father of Samuel², John², and the others and the husband of Rebecca Hambly, thus making a place for these Drakes in the pedigree of the Drakes of Buckland, heirs of Sir Francis Drake. This is a shameless invention. There is even a falsified tombstone for Joseph and Rebecca in Kentucky. (For refutation, see also Michael E. Drake, op. cit., pp. 123-34).
30   Summers, Annals of Southwest Virginia 1769-1800, p. 592.
31   Summers, Annals of Southwest Virginia 1769-1800, p. 684.
32   Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck, Virginia Colonial Soldiers, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1988, p. 151.
33   Virginia Historical Magazine, Vol. 30, 1922, p. 202; R. G. Thwaite & Louise Kellog, Documentary History of Dunmore’s War, Madison 1905 p. 78
34   Kegley, Virginia Frontier, 1938, p. 370. Margaret Patton was her mother.
35   Lanty Armstrong entered a petition 7 Nov 1764 with John Armstrong, "late sergeants in the company of Captain Richard Pearis in the Cherokee country, seeking pay from 2 April 1756 to 25 June 1757," Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck, Virginia Colonial Soldiers, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1988, p. 183.
36   Chalkley, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County 1745-1800, Vol. 1, p. 355, 457.
37   Abstracts of Bedford Co Virginia Wills, Inventories, Accounts, 1754-1787, p. 14-15.
38   Along with Thomas Hobbes, Thos. Jones, Charles Duerson, James Adames, Wm. Dean, James Nelley, and James Waady. Chalkley, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, Vol. 3, p. 102; Abstracts of the Wills of Augusta County, Virginia. Augusta Court Book, Will Book 4, p. 71.
39   Patent Book 40, p. 496.
40   "[-----] Russell son of Capt William Russell of Virginia supposedly killed on the frontiers of Fincastle in September last [or on 20 October] by Cherokee Indians along with Daniel Boone (sic) of Virginia and a son of John Drake of Virginia according to the Pennsylvania Chronicle citing a Baltimore dispatch of 27 Nov" (Pennsylvania Chronicle 6 Dec 1773, Virginia Gazette, Rind, 23 December 1773), Robert K. Headley, Genealogical Abstracts from 18th Century Virginia Newspapers, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1987, p. 297. His name was Samuel Drake (Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 74, 1966, p. 41. From histories of Daniel Boone and his family we know that it was his son James Boone (born 1757) that was killed during the crossing of Clinch Mountain. The death of a mature Samuel in 1773 helps fix the age of his father John.
41   Summers, Annals of Southwest Virginia 1769-1800, pp. 227, 277, 285.
42   The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 17, 1973, p. 89, 218.
43   A. B. Fothergill and J. M. Naugle, Virginia Tax Payers, 1782-1787.