WILLIAM DRAKE OF EDGEFIELD COUNTY,

SOUTH CAROLINA,

Including accounts of the Drake families of Burke and Wilkes Counties, Georgia

and Tyler County, Texas

By Colleen G. Sims and Charles E. Drake

ã  Copyright March 2001, January 2005

 Colleen G. Sims and Charles E. Drake

Extensively Revised January 2005

The Drake family of Edgefield County South Carolina was founded by a certain William Drake who came there in 1755 (1) and with whom we will begin our account.  Edgefield has been called a gateway county, for a great many settlers passed through it on their way to Georgia and points west.  Since William operated a ferry there, (2) he probably met many of those pioneers. He was something of a pioneer himself, but he stopped in Edgefield, and it became his final resting-place.

Edgefield County lies in what was once called Granville County, South Carolina and later was part of old District Ninety-Six. It is in the extreme western part of South Carolina opposite Augusta and Richmond County, Georgia, and William Drake’s land became known as “New Richmond.” (3) It was a natural place for a river crossing, considered, as it was, to be the upper most navigable limit of the Savannah River.  Perhaps this was why this spot became such a gateway. This was in the days before the great reservoirs of Clark Hill and Hartwell Lake changed the Savannah River forever.

It is worth pointing out that this is a very difficult area genealogically, because prior to 1785 most records were kept centrally in Charleston, which means they were mostly NOT kept since Charleston was a great distance away.  After 1785 some earlier records were recorded, but these mainly pertained to proof of property ownership.  The practical effect from a genealogical standpoint is that the sorts of records in which we can find landless individuals, such as court minutes, do not exist.  When this is coupled with the loss of the county records of Burke County, Georgia just across the Savannah River and the loss of the 1790, 1800, and 1810 Federal Censuses for Georgia, the result is devastating.  For this reason this Drake family has frustrated researchers for years.

William Drake of Edgefield Sketch

Nearby Drakes

        Jonathan Drake of Burke County, Georgia

        William Drake of Wilkes County, Georgia

        Eason Drake, later of Tyler County, Texas

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