Abijah Drake: My Revolutionary War Ancestor

Meet my only Revolutionary War ancestor! Only one of my direct ancestors served in the Revolutionary War, and he is my 6th great-grandfather. Abijah Drake was born in Massachusetts in 1733 or 1734, and his parentage is not definitively proven. He lived in Taunton, Massachusetts, and on August 4, 1760, he married Tabatha Plumley. They would have four sons and one daughter together.

Abijah was living in Sutton, Massachusetts, at the start of the American Revolution. Less than a month after the battles of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts was rapidly raising troops to besiege British forces in Boston. On May 17, 1775, Abijah answered that call and enlisted as a private in Capt. Edward Seagrave’s company in Col. Joseph Read’s (20th) regiment. Colonel Read’s regiment was part of the Massachusetts army surrounding Boston during the Siege of Boston in 1775. Abijah immediately joined other militia soldiers near Boston that summer. Capt. Seagrave’s company appears to have been stationed at Roxbury during June 1775, including on the day of the Battle of Bunker Hill nearby. Although Abijah was in the area and was serving in the army during the Battle of Bunker Hill, I have not found evidence that his company participated directly in the fighting. At Roxbury, he may have been involved in the construction of fortifications, digging trenches, guard duty, drills, and overall guarding the southern approach to Boston.

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A Family Tree: Drake Maple

This is the story of a special tree in our family: the Drake Maple.

In 1986, my grandpa, Ed Drake, decided that he wanted to spruce up some of the landscaping at his house. He went to a nursery, and with the help of his horticulturally-trained son-in-law, picked out some bushes for the front of his house. They picked out some yews and spireas, and bought a pretty lilac bush to plant by the front bedroom window. As they were walking around the lot, the salesman learned my Papa’s last name, Drake. He said, “I have a tree with your name on it!” He convinced my Papa to also purchase a small maple tree, the Drake Maple.

The Drake Maple is a variety of Acer rubrum, and has brilliant fall colors. A U.S. patent for this new variety was filed by Virgil James Drake (no known relation to our Drake family) in January 1973. This variety is particularly unique in its fall coloring. It is described as “having distinctively colored leaves turning from green to a colored border through shades of blue violet to red and yellow,” and was discovered by V.J. Drake in Van Buren County, Michigan in September 1967. V.J. Drake was able to propagate seedlings through cuttings of the original tree. By the time my grandpa acquired one in 1986, it was available at a few nurseries throughout the United States.

Leaves of the Drake Maple — In the fall, the Drake Maple leaves show a variety of colors. Often the edges turn red and then violet, and the centers change from green to yellow and then red.

My Papa planted his new tree in a place of honor, directly in front of his house. Every fall, it shows off its brilliant colors. The edges of the leaves turn red, and often the middle of the leaf turns from green to yellow. At different times, the tree may look red or orange from afar, and the variety of color in its leaves becomes apparent at close range. My grandparents loved to watch it change colors every fall, and it was often the backdrop for family photos. I have never seen another one in person. In more ways than one, this “family tree” is quite special.

If you’d like to see this cultivar in person, to my knowledge, there are Drake Maples planted at Hidden Lake Gardens at Michigan State University and Home & Garden Information Center at Clemson Cooperative Extension, South Carolina.

Sources:

U.S. Patent Office, Plant Patent 3,542, Maple Tree by Virgil James Drake. (External link to full patent text.)
Images are personal family photos, taken by the author or Britni Michael Photography.

Favorite photo: Nana and Papa at the fair

One of my favorite photos from my family history is actually a set of photos. My grandparents, Ed Drake and Millie Kaiser, were out on the town and visited a photo booth. This set of tiny photos are the photos that were taken there! When I asked my grandmother about them, she said they must have been taken when a fair came to town. They both look so happy, and you can see some of the mischief in my grandfather’s face. He could always make us laugh. I remember both of them that way. I love these photos because although I knew them later in life, I can see that they had the same spirit when they were younger, too.

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Nana was a WWII veteran (Part III)

Kaiser_Millie_WAVES_Victory — Millie with her closest friends, Fran and Ski. They are spending the day in Pensacola doing some shopping. A store selling Navy uniforms advertises war bonds and stamps. (*Image source: M. Kaiser WAVES scrapbook*)

This is Part III of a series dedicated to my grandmother’s WWII military service. Click here to read Part I or Click here to read Part II.

My grandmother (Nana), Millie Kaiser, joined the Navy WAVES in April of 1944. As mentioned earlier in the series, she was stationed at Saufley Field in Pensacola, Florida. While much of her time was spent at work, most of her fondest memories were spending time with her friends during their off-hours. Continue reading “Nana was a WWII veteran (Part III)” →