Samuel Drake    

SAMUEL DRAKE, farmer, post-office Leesburgh, was born January 12, 1803, in Westmoreland County, Penn., to Moses and Susan (Beneman) Drake. The father was born in New Jersey, and came to what is now Lawrence County in 1815, and finally settled in Wilmington Township, this county, with his second wife. By his first wife he had four children: Fannie, Samuel, Daniel and Betsey; and by his second wife he had Sarah, Susan, James, Anna, Jane and William. Samuel Drake was educated in the log cabin schools, which were much unlike those in which his children were educated by his means. He attended only twenty-three days in all, but by securing good books and papers he has become a well-informed man. He early learned the art of making brick, and made those used in the construction of the first Second United Presbyterian Church edifice in Mercer. He was married in 1831 to Elizabeth Orr, a sister of John Orr, and by her had only one child, Mary J., who lived with her grandmother until the latter’s death, when she came back to the home of her father. Some time subsequent to the death of his first wife, he was married to Lydia Orick, of Ohio, by whom he has four children: Erastus, Margaret M., married William McCracken; Julia A., Samuel W., married Martha Robinson, and has two children, William and Jane. Mr. Drake was married a third time, his last wife being Martha, the widow of Robert Donley, by whom he had four children: Robert, Rebecca, Margaret and Lucetta. He has been an elder of the Leesburgh Presbyterian Church for over twenty years. The two wives who lived with him in this county were also attached to that church. Mr. Drake began in this world with only a willing heart and strong hands, and by economy and frugal dealings he has accumulated 160 acres, which he yet manages. He has always contributed to every enterprise that goes to help build up and retain the good name of Mercer County, and at the time of furnishing the data for a sketch of his life to appear in this volume he expressed the hope that he might live long enough to peruse the history of the county he has labored so earnestly to help make "blossom as the rose," that those coming after him might enjoy what he helped to make with his willing hands. At the ripe old age of eighty-five years he attends to his own business, and a part of that of the church of his choice. He has always been an ardent Republican since the organization of that party.

History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania : its past and present : including its aboriginal history, its early settlement and development, a description of its historic and interesting localities, sketches of its boroughs, townships and villages, neighborhood and family histories, portraits and biographies of pioneers and representative citizens, statistics, etc. : also, a condensed history of Pennsylvania. Chicago, Ill.: Brown, Runk & Co., 1888.  Read this book on line - Free Trial  Search Hundreds of 1880s-1890s Pennsylvania County History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors.  View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file!  Free Access to the old history books - plus birth & death records, census images and ALL other records at ancestry.com.