Don Dee Drake of Michigan 1896 - 1967

Don Dee Drake was born 22 Jun 1896 in Springport, Michigan and died 14 Jun 1967, about one month after my dad (his son died).  He was the son of Allison Royce Drake and Jane Meyers Drake.  He was one of 4 children: Hattie, Lucia and Royce Allison were his other siblings.  He had 4 children:  Martha Jane, Donald Duane (my dad) and Jack Scovill with his first wife, Ruth Henrietta Scovill Drake.  When she died, he remarried Ellen Fitzgerald.  She had a son, Dave, and then another son with Don Dee, named Richard.

I wasn't a fan of Ellen Fitgerald AT ALL.  My dad never spoke ill of her, but he had a pretty miserable childhood on account of her.  And I didn't care much for me Grandpa Drake either.  Come to think of it, we called my mom's dad, Cleo Mallison Hughes Grandpa and the other one Grandpa Drake.  Hmmmm.  I wonder if that's significant?

It seemed like he was always questioning us about why we weren't as smart, athletic, popular etc. as "The Cousins."  He and Ellen Fitzgerald used to give expensive gifts, but it was always something that they thought you should have, not something that you actually wanted.  In 1967 all I wanted was a baseball mitt.  Instead I got a pink and white linen gingham dress that had about 4 yards of fabric in the skirt, with a big sash and pink heart buttons up the front of the bodice.  Can you imagine how awful that would look on a skinny girl with stork legs, scabby knees, 30 pounds of hair AND cordovan colored high top corrective shoes?  Please.

But as I learn more about the family, I'm thinking that maybe Don Dee Drake did the best he could with what he knew.  I had a relative tell me that Allison Royce Drake liked to drink.  Seems to be a trait that all us Drakes have.  But Allison was a mean drunk.  A mean drunk usually translates to "knocking your family around" or saying terrible things.  That's just my experience.

The 1910 United States Census has the last of the Drake Family spread across three locations.  Lucia had married Frank Converse and Hattie had married Dana Fuller.  My Grandpa Drake is 13 years old and Royce is 6.  They are living in a boarding house in Charlotte Ward 4, Eaton, Michigan.  Their dad is living in Woodstock, Lenawee, Michigan in a boarding house, doing odd jobs.  He's 51 and "single."  Remember that.

Jane Myers Drake is living in Charlotte Ward 4, Eaton, Michigan.  She is a roomer at another house.  Maybe she was a housekeeper.  She is "M1" which I believe means "Married Once."  I wondered what the hell happened in this family?  When I pulled up a map, I discovered that while they might not be living together, Jane Myers Drake lived right around the corner from her two boys.  Allison was a substantial distance away.

Years later, after his wife Ruth Scovill Drake died, all three of his children -- Martha Jane, my dad Donald Duane Drake and brother Jack Scovill, were sent to live with Ruth's folks.  And they were pretty old.  They had a boarding house -- geez, what is it with this family and boarding houses?  But it couldn't have been too bad as my dad learned to speak German and polish which would help him in his Army years, and he had some real funny stories about that time in his life.

But still -- I could never, NEVER farm my kids out.  Who would do something like that to his children.  Especially when you've got your other kid and step son living with you.  And your newer younger wife isn't working.  It just set wrong with me.

So this morning, I ran a google map to see where Grandpa Drake was living in 1940.  324 W. Forest, Ypsilanti, Michigan.  Pretty nice house, right?

 

It's apartments now, and for all I know it could have been apartments back in 1940.  And right around the corner, practically was where my dad and his siblings were living.  It would have to be difficult to live that close to your dead wife's parents with your new young wife and kids, don't you think?  

But here's the picture that kind of changed my mind about my Grandpa Drake:

 

On the bottom of the picture it's written:  Don and Royce and Brownie.
On the back:  Don Drake Age 10
                     Bill Drake Age 3
                 To be Duane's

Duane is the name that everybody in the family called my dad.  Except my mom.  She called him Don.  All his friends and fellow coaches called him Dobbie.  Which is also what they called my Grandpa Drake -- which another story for another post.  And Bill was what everybody called Allison Royce Drake.  When referring to him, we all say Uncle Bill.  Bill was the nickname that Lucia's husband, Frank Converse gave him. 

But here's the deal -- this is what I gather from this pix:  Don is definitely not starving, but his weight could mean that he is eating a diet of starches.  Or he could be a stress eater.  It doesn't look like he's in a suit suit, but a jacket and pants.  And really could the faces on these boys be any sadder?

So, while Grandpa Drake wasn't the best dad in town, he probably did the best he could do with what he knew.

 

A Drake By Any Other Name:

So here's a bit of info from Ancestry.com:

"English: from the Old English by name Draca, meaning ‘snake’ or ‘dragon’, Middle English Drake, or sometimes from the Old Norse cognate Draki. Both are common surnames and, less frequently, personal names. Both the Old English and the Old Norse forms are from Latin draco ‘snake’, ‘monster’ (see Dragon).  As in Draco Mallfoy.

That seems to be the general consensus.

But then it gets a little crazy:  i have found some definitions that say that if someone had the nickname of Drake, that person would be "formidable and fierce in battle."

And I've found several locations that state that Drake came from the word Draker  which is a standard bearer.  In other words the guy that holds the flag.  Not a desirable position to be in during battle, I would think.

And then there is Draco which supposedly means dragon and a drake that is a male mallard duck.  I think our Drake men would prefer that they are named for fearless, ferocious dragons, rather than for a duck.  Because we waddle like ducks?  Because we are constantly quacking.  Or maybe it's a compliment, that we have nice tail feathers!

Other ways I have seen Drake spelled:  Drak (like Quack), Draike, Draik and Drayke.

There are a lot of Drake Family Crests, but all of them pretty much have a dragon on them.  This is my favorite:

A Family Treasure

I have in my possession a little book called:  Select Remains of the Rev. John Mason, M.A. It is very old.  Its cover is embossed linen? and the pages are yellowed and stained and has been nibbled on more critters that I care to think about.  I never paid much attention to it until recently.

I have learned some very important facts and have made some educated guesses.  Such as, I always wondered if the Moores were Catholic.  Mom and Dad came from Ireland.  However this is not a Catholic text and obviously it was very important to the family, so I'm thinking that the Moores were just a big farming family and not Catholic.

On the inside of the book, Libbie Moore has written her name everywhere:  Miss Libbie Moore's Book, Michigan.  And Miss Libbie Moore's book, Brooklyn, Michigan.  And at the top of that first page, Miss Libbie Moore, Born Sept 12/47.  So what have we learned?  I now have Miss Libbie Moore's birth date as well as where she lived.  At the bottom of the page in pencil, it is written:  From Mother to Claude my Dear Boy 1922.

On the fly leaf it is written:  Miss Libbie Moore's Book, Brooklyn, Norvelle, Mich and below that is the date 1857 which doesn't seem to be connected to anything.  At the bottom of the page is written:  To Illda from Gramma.

We then come to another page that says:  Miss Libbie Moore's Book, Brooklyn, Michigan  from her father James Moore born Dec 11/1800.  Hello!

Then comes my favorite page.  I looks like my great grandfather was learning to print his name.  He has written D - E - N - N - I - S, all in capitals, with both Ns and the S backwards.  I wonder if his ma gave him hell for writing in her book, although apparently it's okay.

So far, I have found no hiding writing in the book itself, but I'll admit that I haven't turned every page.  On one of the pages in the back this is written:  Aunt Susan English died Oct. 13th, 1861 on Sunday at 3 1/2 oclock.  I wrote this one week from her death and I was there when she died.  Oct 20th, 1861.  Libbie L. Moore, Libbie Moore.

Neva C Austin

Things I really hate:

Finding the right person, with the right dates, with the right locations with the wrong parents.

Take Neva C Austin.  I have postcards from Neva to her granny Elizabeth Moore Austin.  I have her living in Cambridge, Lenawee, Michigan and Jackson, Michigan.  She died in Brooklyn, Michigan.  Neva would have been my granny Illda Martha Austin Hughes' cousin.  And she married Leland Brighton.

Her dad is Claude Austin, aka Claud Austin, aka Claudie Austin.  And her ma is Katherine Austin.  I'm still doing research, but I believe Katherine's maiden name was Wallace.  I also have Katherine spelled with a C in a few federal census.  I've got Neva all over the place, but none with the correct info for both parents.  Neva had a sister named June who has vanished without a trace.  The last time a relative did that I eventually found him living in Utah with 3 wives.

Here's a pix of Neva with her dog, Jack.  It was sent to her granny Libbie Moore.

Here's a  picture of Illda Martha Austin.  I believe it is post 1912 and pre 1915.  I think the two girls look alike considering Neva is about 6 and Illda is probably around 16 or 17.