John R. Drake

John Reuben Drake (November 28, 1782 in Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County, New York – March 21, 1857 in Owego, Tioga County, New York) was a U.S. Representative from New York.

Life

He was the son of Rev. Reuben Drake (a Baptist minister from a line of wealthy landowners) and Phoebe Sherwood. Drake completed preparatory studies and engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits, such as projecting the New York & Erie Railroad. He married Jerusha Roberts, with whom he had a daughter, Delphine Drake.

He was Supervisor of the Town of Owego in 1813 and First Judge of the Broome County Court from 1815 to 1823. In 1823, he was one of three commissioners overseeing construction of the historic Tioga County Courthouse. Drake was a member of the Free Masons' lodge of Owego.

Drake was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the 15th United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1817, to March 3, 1819. There he served on the Committee on Expenditures on the Public Buildings.

He was First Judge of the Tioga County Court from 1833 to 1838, a member of the New York State Assembly in 1834, and President of the Village of Owego from 1841 to 1845.

He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery.

References

• John R. Drake at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Judge Drake at the Schenectady Digital History Archive
• Journal of the House (on-line transcribed version)
• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 70, 216, 271, 358 and 365; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)