Drake, John N.

Born: 1826-XX-XX Ohio

John N. Drake was a farmer, attorney, civil servant, and Democrat. He lived in Danville, Illinois in the mid-nineteenth century, where he farmed and practiced law. In early July 1854, while still living in Vermilion County, he purchased forty acres of land in Iroquois County. He ran as a Democrat for a seat in the U.S. Congress during the 1854 Federal Election, but lost to Whig Jesse O. Norton. On July 24, 1855, he received appointment as register for the U.S. General Land Office in Danville, where he served until January 6, 1856. By 1860, he was still living in Danville and practicing law.

U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Vermilion County, IL, 327; Lottie E. Jones, History of Vermilion County Illinois (Chicago: Pioneer, 1911), 1:154; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Iroquois County, 238:79, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Souvenir of Settlement and Progress of Will County, Ill. (Chicago: Historical Directory, 1884), 157; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1855 (Washington, DC: Robert Armstrong, 1855), 81; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 29 September 1854, 2:2; 28 July 1855, 3:1; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 22 April 1858, 2:4; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Danville, Vermilion County, IL, 21.