John Drake was born in Capetown, South Africa, in 1849
In 1873 he married Lizzie Young Hawdesley in Philadelphia.

I have no other info...

This forum helped me a lot in the past, I hope somebody will be able to help again.

Possible 1920 census

img227.imageshack.us/i...ke1920.jpg

Name: John Drake
Home in 1920: St Paul Ward 8, Ramsey, Minnesota
Age: 71
Estimated birth year: abt 1849
Birthplace: Africa
[South Africa]
Relation to Head of House: Roomer
Father's Birth Place: Ireland
Mother's Birth Place: England
Marital Status: Widowed
[Widow]
Race: White
Sex: Male
Year of immigration: 1870
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes

Livio, I'll see if I can find anything else.

Best,
Biff

Wow! could be him!

1900 census

img638.imageshack.us/i...ke1900.jpg

Name: John Drake
Home in 1900: Haddon, Camden, New Jersey
Age: 51
Birth Date: Mar 1849
Birthplace: Africa
Race: White
Gender: Male
Immigration Year: 1870
Relationship to Head of House: Head
Father's Birthplace: England
Mother's Birthplace: England
Spouse's name: Elizabeth Drake, born May 1847 in England
Marriage Year: about 1874
Marital Status: Married
Years Married: 26
No children

Biff

If the 1920 census was correct here's the 1930 census for the same person.

img51.imageshack.us/im...ke1930.jpg

Name: Jon Drake
Home in 1930:Home for the Aged, St Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota
Age: 81
Estimated birth year: abt 1849
Birthplace: Africa
Relation to Head of House: Lodger
Race: White

Still looking for 1880 and 1910 census records.

Biff

One piece of information that I missed to give is that his father was from Dublin and his mother from London and this appears in the census!
His residency in St Paul Ramsey at a senior age makes sense, since he had some first cousins living there.

Possible 1910 census

img213.imageshack.us/i...ke1910.jpg

Name: John Drake
Age in 1910: 60
Estimated birth year: 1850
Birthplace: Ireland
Relation to Head of House: Brother-in-Law
Father's Birth Place: Ireland
Mother's Birth Place: England
Home in 1910: White Bear, Ramsey, Minnesota
Marital Status: Widowed
Race: White
Gender: Male
Year of immigration: 1906???
Household Members: Name Age
John D Neff 65
Maria T Neff 59
John Drake 60

Biff

Biff I appreciate your help!
I do not recognize his brother in law and the immigration year makes me think that it is not him.

Livio,

There is a tree on Ancestry posted by Ian Pace of Lincolnshire which shows John's parents as James Drake (1819-1905) and Jane Moore (1825-1908) with pics of both parents; also lists his siblings some with pictures. Let me know if you'd like me to post any details/pics. Also includes info on his sister Corinna Drake Dollero.

edited to add--I should have looked at your family website since you are familiar with Ian Pace's tree.

Biff

Biff, yes I have been in touch with Ian Pace. Corinna Drake is my maternal grandmother. Some of the pictures are taken from my tree and vice versa. I'm trying to find some of the missing information...
James Adolphus Drake, my great uncle, seems to be married to Allison, is this a name or a surname, and when did they marry?

Allison could be either a first name or surname.

No marriage year is listed on Ian's site.

Biff

liviomoreno wrote:

John Drake was born in Capetown, South Africa, in 1849 In 1873 he married Lizzie Young Hawdesley in Philadelphia. I have no other info... This forum helped me a lot in the past, I hope somebody will be able to help again.

this site may be helpful:

www.phila.gov/phils/Do...nealgy.htm

Thanks, Charlie I will give it a try...

Livio,
Try FamilySearch beta.familysearch.org/ Most, if not all, of Pennsylvania's genealogy docs are not accessible online; however, Family Search, for whatever reason, has managed to provide some resources from Philadelphia such as Return of Death, which has yielded several discoveries for me. There are also marriage indexes for Philadelphia from The Orphan's Court where I have also found records for many of my great aunts and uncles who emigrated from Sicily. To access the images of the records you will have to enter a username and password. If you don't have a username, password then follow the process to create one as there is no charge. You can either narrow your search by regions, countries, etc. or simply have the search include all areas available. If you are looking for info around Philadelphia restrict the search to USA, Canada, Mexico.

I hope this helps and that I have not been too confusing in my explanation.

Thanks Tom, I already searched the FamilySearch databases without success. The Philadelphia Marriage collection covers the 1885-1951 time frame while my John Drake's marriage occurred in 1873...