George Burton Drake

Who was George Burton Drake?

George Burton Drake was a Congregational minister, born August 8, 1870 in Eagle, New York to John and Emily Drake. Raised as an only child, 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. 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 minister. There he met and married Nellie Jennie Rice 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, New York.

George Burton Drake and his wife served Congregational Churches in Mount Hope, Kansas, Valley Falls, Kansas, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Chicago and eventually to Old Orchard Church in Webster Groves, Missouri. George Burton Drake retired to McPherson, Kansas, where he died on September 20, 1942. Nell was a poet.