Orange County FlArchives Biographies.....Drew, Benjamin 1844 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 2, 2008, 11:58 pm Author: B. F. Johnson Benjamin Drew Among the substantial naval stores operators of Florida of the present is Benjamin Drew, of Orlando. He is a native of North Carolina, in which State the Drew family dates back to the colonial period. In 1790 John Drew, of Halifax, was one of the richest men in the State, very prominent socially and in a public way. Several members of the family later were in the General Assembly of the State. At that time there were fully one dozen families of the Drew name settled in Halifax, Sampson, Hertford and Brunswick counties. John Drew, then residing in Brunswick and the only representative of the family in that county, was the grandfather of Benjamin Drew. In America there appears to have been two distinct strains of the Drew family, one settled in the early colonial period in New England, another in Virginia, and from Virginia drifting into North Carolina. Governor Drew of Florida was descended from the New England family, and he with his children were perhaps the only representatives of that family in the Southern States, all the remaining Drews having come from the Virginia and North Carolina families. Benjamin Drew was born in Brunswick county, N. C., February 20, 1844, son of Thomas G. and Mary (Godwin) Drew. His father was son of John Drew, who lived to the great age of about eighty-six and who was familiarly known as "Uncle Johnnie" or "Uncle Jackie" Drew. On his maternal side Mr. Drew's family is an exceedingly ancient one, the Godwins being of Saxon origin in England and traceable back in that country for more than one thousand years. They also originally settled in Virginia, and from there branches of the family drifted southward. The Drew family has furnished some very prominent men to the country. The New England family is responsible for Daniel Drew, practically the founder of the present system of trading in stocks on the New York stock exchange, a great Methodist who gave away much money to that church and the founder of Drew Theological Seminary. He lived to the age of ninety-one. Another member of the northern family was George Alexander Drew, a famous Canadian jurist. Already mentioned as coming from the Northern family was Governor George Drew, of Florida. Governor Thomas S. Drew, third Governor of Arkansas belonged to the North Carolina stock. His people moved from North Carolina to Wilson county, Tenn., where he was born in 1802. Later he moved to Arkansas and there became a very prominent figure in the public life of the State serving acceptably as Governor. John Drew, one of the greatest actors of all time, though classed as an American, was born in Ireland. Francis A. Drew, one of the great merchants of our country, like John Drew was also born in Ireland. Mr. Drew obtained only such education as the ordinary schools of Brunswick county afforded. Before he arrived at manhood the Civil War broke out, and in the second year of the war he became a member of the First Batallion of Heavy Artillery, and served around Fort Fisher and Fort Caswell, N. C, until Fort Fisher fell, and then was transferred to field serivce, serving in the infantry until the close of the war. In business Mr. Drew has been the architect of his own fortunes. Coming out of the Confederate army a young man of twenty-one, with a limited education, he has had to make his own way in the world, and he started in by being always ready to take hold of anything that offered an opportunity. In this way he has been engaged in various enterprises, such as real estate, banking and lumbering. For the last thirty-six years the naval stores business has been his principal interest. When he left North Carolina he settled first at the head of the Cooper river in South Carolina, thence to Charleston county, from there to Berkeley county, thence to Hampton county and from there moved to Irwin county, Ga., which afforded a good field for his operations, and stayed there twenty-two years. From there he moved to his present location as offering a more favorable opportunity for his particular line of business. Mr. Drew's religious preferences incline to the Methodist Church. On September 13, 1866, he married Miss Mary C. Swain, a daughter of George W. and Eliza Swain, of Brunswick county, N. C. Of this marriage two children have been born, Mary E. and Ada C. Drew. In politics Mr. Drew has been a lifetime Democrat, taking no part in public life as an office-seeker, and confining himself to the peformance of his duty as a citizen by voting his convictions. He has made a success of his business affairs by intelligent application, combined with hard work and personal integrity. That he has won the respect of the community in which he lives is no more than might be expected from his temperament, his life and his business conduct. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. III. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. McCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. COPYRIGHT 1909 B. F. JOHNSON Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/orange/photos/bios/drew28gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/orange/bios/drew28gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 5.9 Kb