Drake, Milbrey

  General Notes:

BIRTH date estimated.

Loose files found in Hadley Society files - submitted to the Society 198 8 by Pauline Brahams, records appear to be from a publication of Wills, H alifax Co, North Carolina:

"Will #461 pg. 215 Joseph HADLEY 28 Oct 1793 Nov. Ct 1793 len d wife Lydda HADLEY my manor plantation with 100 acres, negroes, etc, dur ing her life or widowhood and at her death or marriage the same(except t he land) to be divided between my 7 children:
Sarah HADLEY,
Maldrid HADLEY,
Henry HADLEY,
William Drake HADLEY,
Martha HADLEY,
Mary Volentine HADLEY and
Joseph James HADLEY...
sons Henry and Joseph James land... .
son Willilam Drake HADLEY my part of the mill and the rest of the mill t o go to my brother Ambrose HADLEY. .
Wit: Stephen WEAVER, William DAVIS\

Extrs; Willis ARRINGTON and my brother Ambrose"

[Comments by Pauline:
Sons Henry & Wm. are thought to be in GA 1805 also. The DAR Joseph 1750 -1793 - Lydia may have been an ARRINGTON or a DEAN/DEEN. Wm. DRAKE died c a. 1801 never married"

{Misc notations}
1761 - Halifax Co. Wm. HADLEY bought 425 acres.
1675 - Wm. HADLEY - Lower Norfolk Co, VA. HADLEYs later in what is tod ay Isle of Wight Co. and they later droped down into Halifax Co, NC.]

James Drake's ancestry and date/place of birth is one of those great debate topics in genealogy; or at least in Drake genealogy. I am satisfied (at this point at least) that he is the son of John Drake and Sarah Bryant of Bertie Co., NC. This John Drake in his will names his son James who is not of age (21) and his wife Sarah and father-in-law James Bryant. A James Drake later sells land that belonged to this John Drake which connects the James Drake selling the land to John Drake. Jo White Linn makes a very good argument with proofs for this James Drake son of John & Sarah in her book Drake-Arrington (etc.) Having followed up with my own research, I agree with this reasoning. Perhaps future research will inconvertibly prove this right or wrong. Or perhaps we James Drake descendants will just have to agree to disagree. This Drake site has a very well done paper The Origin of the Drake Family of Isle of Wight County, Virginia by Charles Drake researches the ancestry of the Drakes of VA, including John and son James.

Place of birth and parents aside, the date of birth is still unsupported except as before the death of his father. John Drake wrote his will January 5, 1728, certified May Court 1729. James is identified in the will as not yet 21 years of age. James could be born anytime between 1706 and 1727. Ms. Linn gives his birthdate as August 5, 1725. Though normally quite meticulous about citing sources, she does not do so in this case. There could be a baptismal record somewhere. Some say that James Drake is buried at Saint John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Henrico Co.,VA. Barb Marshall shared a findfrom Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots listing: DRAKE, James Old St John's Church Cemetery Richmond VA However, I have not been able to confirm either as his burial place.

Another interesting bit of well-known and accepted "fact" is that his first marriage was to Sophia Valentine. While descendant naming supports a Sophia Valentine, I have not yet found a specific source. It is supported that the James Drake who married widow Hartwell Davis (thought by most to have been Hodges) had a previous family. Hartwell's will supports her having only two children by James and a previously family by (Thomas) Davis.