Charles D. Drake

Who was Charles D. Drake?

Charles Daniel Drake was a United States Senator from Missouri. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended St. Joseph's College in 1823 and 1824, and Patridge's Military Academy in 1824 and 1825; he was appointed midshipman in the United States Navy in 1825 and served four years, when he resigned. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in Cincinnati in 1833 and moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1834 and continued the practice of law.

Drake was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives in 1859-1860 and a member of the State constitutional convention in 1865; he was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate and served from March 4, 1867, to December 19, 1870, when he resigned to accept a judicial position. While in the Senate he was chairman, Committee on Education. He was appointed chief justice of the United States Court of Claims and held that position from 1870 to 1885, when he retired. He published a Treatise on the Law of Suits by Attachment in the United States and Union and Anti-Slavery Speeches.

He died in Washington, D.C.; his remains were cremated and the ashes interred in Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis.