George Burton Drake (minister)

George Burton Drake (1870-1942) was a Congregational minister, born August 8, 1870 in Eagle, New York to John (1833-1901) and Emily (Helmer) Drake (1848-1904). Raised as an only child (his older brother William had died in 1872), George was relied upon heavily by his mother to help his father, who had been severely wounded by a Confederate sniper during the Civil War and left without the use of his right arm. During his teenage years, he attended Pike Academy in New York.

Drake attended Ridgeville College in Indiana where he met Ida Hattie Lawrence (b. April 14, 1872). They married on Dec 24, 1891 and she died shortly thereafter on March 24, 1893. In 1894 he moved to South Wardsboro, Vermont where he served as a congregational aide. There he met and married Nellie (Nell) Jennie Rice (Nov 9, 1870-Dec 23, 1966) May 13, 1894. In 1901 he moved back to western New York to look after his father due to John's failing health. On September 10, 1901, John Drake died in Pike, NY.

George Burton Drake and his wife served Congregational Churches in Mount Hope, KS, Valley Falls, KS, Kansas City, KS, Minneapolis, Chicago and eventually to [http://www.oldorchardchurch.org/| Old Orchard Church] in Webster Groves, MO. George Burton Drake retired to McPherson, Kansas, where he died on September 20, 1942. Nell was a poet. Nell and George Burton Drake had one son, George Bryant Drake (Dec 8, 1895- Apr 26,1979), a minister and past President of Doane College (1942-1947), and a daughter, Ruth Nellie Drake (Dec 16, 1900-Nov 28, 1994); two grandsons, historian George Drake (emeritus President of Grinnell College) and history Professor Richard Drake (retired) of Berea College and a granddaughter, Jane Drake Erickson, who followed the family tradition as a minister's wife.