Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Drake, LL. B., D.M.D., James Francis September 21, 1868 - 
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com February 1, 2011, 3:40 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 830 - 834
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     DR. JAMES FRANCIS DRAKE, LL. B., D. M. D., a successful representative of 
professional interests in Portland, has been continuously engaged in the 
practice of dentistry for nearly a quarter of a century and has also attained 
prominence in fraternal and military circles here. He was born in Petaluma, 
California, September 21, 1868, his parents being Colonel Frank Volney and 
Mary (Stephens) Drake, who were married in San Francisco. The father, a native 
of Belvidere, Illinois, was an attorney at law who served as district attorney 
of Storey county, Nevada, during "Comstock days." He died in Reno, Nevada, in 
1908, while on his way home to Portland, Oregon. His wife, Mrs. Mary 
(Stephens) Drake, was born in Swansea, Wales, a daughter of Thomas and Jane 
Earl (Fraser) Stephens, who were natives, respectively, of Swansea, Wales, and 
of Stromness, Orkney Islands, Scotland. She is a sister of the late Hon. 
Thomas A. Stephens, at one time circuit judge of Multnomah county, Oregon. In 
Nevada the family were close friends of "Sandy" Bowers and his wife, 
of "Washoe" fame. Dr. Drake of this review has a brother and a sister, namely: 
Frederick H. Drake, a well known attorney of Portland, is a graduate of 
Stanford University, a member of the Chi Psi and Phi Delta Phi fraternities, 
served for several years as United States commissioner in Portland and has 
been a major and judge advocate general in the Oregon National Guard since 
1918. The sister, Virginia Upham, resides in California.

     James F. Drake spent the early years of his life in Virginia City, 
Nevada, and numbered among his playfellows James Fair, Jr. He attended the 
Lincoln grammar school of San Francisco, California, during what are 
remembered as the Dennis Kearney and anti-Chinese agitation days. It was in 
the early '80s that he came to Portland with his parents on the 
steamship "State of California" and continued his studies in the Central 
school under Miss Dimick, the school occupying the present site of the 
Portland Hotel. He was also a pupil in the Harrison street school under I. W. 
Pratt, was graduated from the Portland high school in June, 1886, and spent a 
year in the study of German at Bishop Scott's Academy. While still a boy he 
was for several years a regular attendant at the Sundry school services of the 
Trinity Episcopal church under Judge Matthew P. Deady, but in later life he 
joined the First Presbyterian church. His initial experience in the business 
world came to him as an office employe of the J. K. Gill Company, which he 
represented in the credit department for about eleven years. His spare time 
was devoted to the study of botany under Professor L. F. Henderson, Dr. 
Bolander and Thomas Howell. His herbarium of several thousand species and sets 
of rare botanical works were given to the University of Oregon. He classified 
and mounted an exhibit of five hundred species of Oregon wild flowers for the 
World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893. He became interested in 
mineralogy and metallurgy through association with Dr. Roland D. Grant, of 
the "White Temple," who had one of the finest private collections of minerals 
in the country. While on a visit to Butte, Montana, he spent six months in the 
smelters of that city, studying metallurgy. During a period of five years he 
was actively interested in the work of the Boys' Brigade, predecessor of the 
Boy Scouts.

     It was in 1894 that the University of Oregon conferred upon Dr. Drake the 
degree of LL. B., while eleven years later, in 1905, he received the degree of 
D. M. D. from the North Pacific College. As above stated, he has been active 
in the practice of dentistry since 1904 and through the intervening period of 
twenty-four years has built up a patronage of extensive and gratifying 
proportions. As an educator, too, his efforts have been attended with 
excellent results. As a member of the faculty of the North Pacific College, he 
was an instructor in the chemical laboratory for several years, taught botany 
for three years in the North Pacific College of Pharmacy and for fifteen years 
has been instructor of metallurgy in North Pacific College. He was appointed 
to prepare and supervise the course of study of the Student Army Training 
Corps in that college during the war, and also was a member of the board of 
examiners for officers in the Dental Corps.

     On the 21st of October, 1903, in Portland, Dr. Drake was united in 
marriage to Stella Kellogg, daughter of Captain Orrin Kellogg. Her family has 
been intimately identified with the history of the Columbia basin from 1848 to 
the present time and its members have figured prominently in river 
transportation and similar activities. Captain Joseph Kellogg, grandfather of 
Mrs. Drake, brought the charter for the first Masonic lodge on the Pacific 
coast, and west of the Missouri river, to Oregon City in 1848. Mrs. Drake is a 
Daughter of the American Revolution in direct line. Her mother crossed the 
plains from Iowa in 1864. She is past grand president of the Rebekahs and past 
grand matron of the Order of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Drake is a past grand 
matron of Oregon and is an officer in the general grand chapter of the Order 
of the Eastern Star, being the third Oregon woman who has been so honored. She 
is also a director of the Waverly Baby Home of Portland. Dr. and Mrs. Drake 
are the parents of a daughter, Dorothea, who was born October 21, 1905, and 
was graduated from the University of Oregon with the degree of Bachelor of 
Arts in 1927. She is now a high school teacher, a member of the Eastern Star 
and a Daughter of the American Revolution.

     Dr. Drake has the distinction of being a charter member and one of the 
organizers of the Mazamas, having ascented Mount Hood first in 1885. His 
military record began in January, 1886, when he became a charter member of 
Company I, Oregon State Militia, which was organized in the high school under 
Professor R. K. Warren as captain. He was made second lieutenant at the 
organization of the First Regiment, Oregon National Guard, under Colonel C. F. 
Beebe, was ensign with the first naval militia in the state and became captain 
of Company A, First Regiment, Oregon National Guard. He served on the general 
staff under Governors Withycombe, Olcott and Pierce and attained the rank of 
major in the Guard, with which he was connected for fifteen years. He was 
commissioned major of infantry of the Officers Reserve Corps. For three years 
Dr. Drake served on the board of education of Portland and it was during his 
incumbency that the Benson Polytechnic School, the Franklin high school and 
several grade schools were constructed. It was also during this period that 
the United States became involved in the World war and the members of the 
board of education were confronted with the problems which arose in 
consequence thereof. The Benson Polytechnic School was used by the gov-ernment 
as a military training school.

     In Masonry Dr. Drake has attained the thirty-third degree honorary, A. 
and A. S. Rite. He belongs to the following bodies: Portland Lodge No. 55, A. 
F. & A. M., of which he is a past master; Washington Chapter No. 18, R. A. M.; 
Washington Council No. 3, R. & S. M.; Washington Commandery No. 15, K. T., of 
which he is a past commander; Al Kader Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of which he 
is a life member; and the Order of the Eastern Star, of which he is past grand 
patron. He is, moreover, an honorary member of the Luther Burbank Society and 
also has membership in the Royal Rosarians and in two Greek letter societies, 
Psi Omega and Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the latter a dental honor fraternity. He 
is a member of the Cambrian Society and the Order of Scottish Clans. Dr. Drake 
was made a member of Chee Kwong Tong, a worldwide organization that assisted 
Sun Yet Sen to establish the republic of China, being one of the few white men 
initiated into this secret society. Because of the interest which he 
manifested in his work in this connection, his daughter was given the 
title "Mook Lan," by Hong Yu Wei, after the Joan of Arc of China, a girl who 
led a Chinese army against the Tartars, a prominent character in China during 
the latter years of the struggle.

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