Allison Royce Drake: Close to the End, But Not Quite

So this next bit is why I encourage all newbie genealogists to REALLY study the Census Record.  When it's just names and numbers it's easy just to automatically copy or print and let that be the end of it.  But if you take a closer look you just might find a tidbit that will make you crazy for the rest of your life.

Case in point:

The 1910 United State Federal Census has Allison enumerated living as a boarder in Lenawee, Woodstock, Michigan.  He is listed as 51 years old, working as a laborer, doing odd jobs and he is reported as being single.  It makes me wonder if that is how he represented himself or did the landlady just assume?

Now, according to that same census, Don D Drake (but actually transcribed as Drape, Dora D) and Royce A Drake are borders at 201 E Lovett in Eaton, Michigan.  The owner of the house is Gary Fox, who is an attorney.  Leah Gardner is listed as a servant and she is 20 years old.  And it looks like Don D is claiming to be 19 -- but it is a number that has been scribbled over.  Could be 18, could be 16, could be 13.  But in reality, Don would have been about 14.  Baby brother Royce is with him, all of 6 years old.  How did they end up there?


This is 201 E Lovett.

I have a very active imagination.  Was Jane hiding them from Allison?  Was Gary Fox her attorney?  Did Jane sell the two boys to him?  Or was he just a single guy who took in borders to make a little cash on the side.  But I'm still a little outraged that the boys were living without their mother.

Then I found a Jane Drake also living in Eaton, Michigan.  So my heart softened.  At least she was in the same city as her two youngest children.  Jane was living at 201 Prairie Street.  When I located that address, I saw that Jane was literally living right around the corner from her boys.  Jane was enumerated with the widow Mrs. Elizabeth Wheaton.  Maybe the Widow Wheaton wouldn't take in children and this is the best Jane could do.  BUT -- is this Jane Drake MY Jane Drake?  After all, Jane Drake would be kind of a common name, don't you think?  This Jane is 52 years old, married and had four children.  She was born in Michigan, her father was born in New York and her mom in Pennsylvania.  I remember my dad telling us kids that we had a little bit of Pennsylvania Dutch in our blood lines. The Census says she is a laborer and does odd jobs.

What doesn't fit -- my records show that Jane Myers Drake's mother was not born in Pennsylvania, but I believe her grandmother was.  But because of all other details plus proximity to Don and Royce, I'm going to say that this is my girl.

From the previously mentioned article from the Battle Creek Enquirer, it almost sounds like Allison moved to three Rivers on his own, but he was back in southeast Michigan by 1910, living in Woodstock, Lenawee, Michigan.  He died @ "The Poor Farm" 31 Aug 1913.  Alone.

I found an old article in my dad's papers -- no date and no publication  -- with the headline "Mother of  'Dobbie' Drake Dies at 99 in Union City."  They lauded her life as a school teacher.  The article says that she made her home in Union City for the past 50 years -- which means she would have moved to that area in 1907.

According to the article about Granpa Don D Drake -- that timing would have put him in junior high in Abscota County.  But then what were they doing in Eaton in 1910.  It was April so was school out?  Were they hiding?  Running?

According to the death certificate of AR Drake -- who I am convinced is my great grandfather, he was recorded as being a widower.  It this because if he had a living relative he wouldn't have been able to stay, or was there something that didn't allow him to correct that?  Insane?  Drunk?  By this time I'm pretty sure Jane and the two boys were with Lucia at the Converse farm.  There was also a married daughter, Hattie Gavena Fuller on the other side of the sate, but was Allison such a jerk that even his own daughters wouldn't take him in.

On the death certificate nothing was know of Allison except that he was born in Michigan and no occupation.

And there is every bit of information and conjecture that I have about Allison Royce Drake.  I have a few loose ends to tie up, but really, I don't think I'll ever find out what the hell happen.  I will be contacting my Cousin JM Converse who I consider to be the patriarch of the family.  He knew Ma Jane and maybe he had heard some stories around the kitchen table.  And I am also contacting the Lenawee Historical Society to see if they have any records on "The Poor House."  If nothing else, maybe how someone became ensconced there.