Source: Unknown - Date Unknown

Drew, W. H.

ol. W. H. Drew, of Troy Township, was born near Burlington, Chittenden County, Vermont, May 16, 1818, and is the son of Peter and Anna Drew, the former born in Connecticut in 1791, and the latter a native of Sandy Hill, N. Y., also born in 1791. The father, who was a farmer, served in the War of 1812 and was commissioned Major at the battle of Plattsburg. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Peter Drew, was a native of Connecticut and is supposed to have been a seafaring man. The family originally came from Devonshire, England. The maternal grandfather of our subject bore the name of William Brace, and was a native of the Empire State. He served as Captain in the war of 1812, and followed the business of a lumber merchant. The parents of col. Drew were married in Vermont, and there were born to them eleven children, of whom our subject is the ninth in order of birth. The father died in 1826. The mother passed away in Orleans County, N. Y. Col Drew received his early education in the district schools of Shelburne, and later attended the academy at Hinesburg. He was also a student at the University at Burlington, and after leaving that institution he entered a mercantile establishment in Burlington and remained until the time of the general financial crash of 1835. He then removed to Palmyra, N. Y., and followed the business of canal transportation for ten years. In 1838 Col. Drew was united in marriage with Emeline, daughter of Thomas Richardson, a native of Vermont, and Susan (Whiting) Richardson, a native of Connecticut. Mrs. Drew was born June 9, 1818, in Niagara County, New York, and was the seventh among twelve Children. In 1840 Col. Drew removed to Rochester, where for a short time, he engaged in business, but he sold out and returned to Palmyra. After remaining thus employed until 1844, he went to Niagara County, N. Y., and during the period of his residence there he was called upon to act as Grand Lecturer of the Grand Lodge of the Free Masons of New York, which position he held until June 1861, when he resigned. When the Civil War broke out Col. Drew raised four hundred men for the service, the first raised in Buffalo. Proceeding to Washington, the regiment, after a few days rest, was ordered across the long bridge at Ft. Ryom, where they remained during summer. In the fall they marched to Upton's Hill, where they remained until April, 1862. Our subject served first as Captain of the company, and when the regiment was organized he was made Major, and afterward in the field was promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel.. By order of the War Department he was sent to Buffalo as a recruiting officer. In the spring of 1862 he returned and joined his command in the field. He served with efficiency and valor in many important engagements, until he was taken with typhoid fever in the fall of 1862, when he resigned on account of disability and returned to Buffalo. When the Civil War broke out Col. Drew raised four hundred men for the service, the first raised in Buffalo. Proceeding to Washington, the regiment, after a few days rest, was ordered across the long bridge at Ft. Ryom, where they remained during summer. In the fall they marched to Upton's Hill, where they remained until April, 1862. Our subject served first as Captain of the company, and when the regiment was organized he was made Major, and afterward in the field was promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel.. By order of the War Department he was sent to Buffalo as a recruiting officer. In the spring of 1862 he returned and joined his command in the field. He served with efficiency and valor in many important engagements, until he was taken with typhoid fever in the fall of 1862, when he resigned on account of disability and returned to Buffalo. Col. Drew is numbered among the prominent Masons of the State and has held most of the offices in the lodge. He and his estimable wife are the parents of two children; Albert N., who was in the late war and now resides in Chicago; and Addie, who is now Mrs. George W. Edson, of Detroit.