Jefferson Drake, a time honored and pioneer settler of Green county, Wis., was born in Jefferson county, Virginia, Dec. 22, 1812, a son of Robert and Margaret (Park) Drake, early settlers of the Old Dominion, of English descent. When our subject was but four years of age he accompanied his parents from Virginia to Ohio, and there grew to manhood. He was one in a large family of children born to Robert and Margaret Drake, the others being Abner, Amos, Park, Mendenhall, Samuel, Rena and Sarah, and Jefferson is the only survivor.

In 1840 Mr. Drake came to Wisconsin and located in Green county. He did not remain on his first trip, but returned to Ohio, and did not make a permanent settlement in the Badger State until 1845, when he located on Section 17, in Clarno township. This was his home for upwards of thirty years, when he sold out and purchased 120 acres of land in Section 23, Cadiz township, of which he afterward sold forty acres, and now resides upon a well improved tract of fifty-six acres in the village of Cadiz. He has ever been a highly respected citizen, bearing a good reputation for fair dealing and strict principles, and his pleasant disposition has won him many warm friends.

In 1857 Mr. Drake was united in marriage with Miss Mahala Moore, who was born in Ohio in 1834, and came to Green county with her father, Thomas Moore, in 1846. This marriage has been blessed with six children: Laura, born in 1858 is at home; Lincoln, born in 1860, is a farmer, and married Manzella Austin, who bore him two children, Theodore and Otha; Ida May, born in 1862, married Daniel Howder, of Cadiz; Thomas, born in 1864, married Sarah McCamant, and has two children, Iva and Glenn; Eli, born in 1867, married Eva Robb, of Cadiz township, and has three children, Floy, Lena and Bernice; and Dora, born in 1869, is now deceased. In politics Mr. Drake has been a Republican from the time that party first presented a presidential candidate. His first vote for president was cast in 1836, when Martin Van Buren was his choice, and he has never missed a presidential vote up to the present, his last vote having been cast for William McKinley, making nineteen different elections. He is now the oldest resident of the county, and is hale and hearty, with a remarkable memory that makes him a most pleasing companion, and one much sought by the local historian.

From the Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Iowa, and Lafayette, WI J. H. Beers & Co. 1901, Pages 951 & 952.