Samuel Gardner Drake (October 11, 1798 – June 14, 1875) was an American

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

, author and historian.

Biography

Drake was born in

Pittsfield, New Hampshire Pittsfield is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,075 at the 2020 census. The main village in town, where 1,570 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Pittsfield census-designated place ...

. His father, Simeon Drake, was initially a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

like his four brothers, but sold his homestead in 1805 to open a store in neighboring Northwood. His mother, Love Muchmore Drake (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Tucke), was the daughter of a minister. Drake was named Samuel after his mother's eldest brother, Samuel J. Tucke, and the

middle name In various cultures, a middle name is a portion of a personal name that is written between a person's given name and surname. A middle name is often abbreviated and is then called middle initial or just initial. A person may be given a middle ...

Gardner derives from Samuel J. Tucke's wife's

maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries and cultures that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" ...

. Drake was educated in the common schools, and from 1818 to 1825 taught in a district school. He was fond of literary pursuits, and in 1828 he went to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, where he established an antiquarian bookstore — the first of its kind in the United States — and devoted himself to the study of early

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

history. He continued to do business as a bookseller and publisher during his life, and the most noted writers of his day availed themselves of the store of information that he had collected. He was one of the founders (1847) of the

New England Historic Genealogical Society The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845. NEHGS provides family history services through its staff, scholarship, website,London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Drake died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in Boston on June 14, 1875, aged 76.

Works

*''Indian Biography'' (1832) *''The Book of the Indians'' (1833) *''The Old Indian Chronicle'' (1836) *''Indian Captivities'' (1839) *''Genealogical and Biographical Account of the Family of Drake in America'' (1845) *''Biography and History of the Indians of North America'' (1849) *''The History and Antiquities of Boston'' (1856) *''The Aboriginal Races of North America'' (1859) *''Result of Some Researches Among the British Archives for Information Relative to the Founders of New England'' (1860) *''A Brief Memoir of Sir Walter Ralegh'' (1862) *''Annals of Witchcraft in New England'' (1869) *''A Particular History of the Five Years French and Indian War'' (1870) *''Early History of Georgia, Embracing the Embassy of Sir Alexander Cuming to the Country of the Cherokees, in the Year 1730'' (1872) He edited: *Thomas Church, ''The History of King Philip's War'' (1825) *

Increase Mather Increase Mather (; June 21, 1639 Old Style – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a History of New England, New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the sixth President of Harvard University, President of Harvard College (la ...

, ''The History of King Philip's War'' (1862) *

, ''Early History of New England'' (1864) * William Hubbard, ''The History of the Indian Wars in New England'' (1865)

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Samuel Gardner 1798 births 1875 deaths American antiquarians Writers from Boston Deaths from pneumonia in Massachusetts People from Pittsfield, New Hampshire Historians from Massachusetts

Biography

Works

See also

Notes

References

External links