G. W. Drake

    G. W. Drake, M. D., a successful practitioner of Chattanooga, is the son of Samuel B. and Sarah J. (Ball) Drake, both natives of Virginia, where they were reared and married. In early life the father was a lawyer, afterward a merchant and lastly a farmer; he died about 1848. The mother is still living and is about seventy years of age. Of their family of five chil4ren, three of whom are living, our subject is the eldest. He was born April 4, 1842, in Powhattan County, Va., and received a classical education in Richmond College of the same State. In 1861 he enlisted in Powhattan Troops Confederate Cavalry, being the first troops at Manassas Junction. In 1864 he was wounded in the right arm near Spottsylvania which disabled him from further duty. After the war he taught school and studied medicine, graduating from Vanderbilt University in 1876 as M. D. Soon after this he came to Chattanooga. He is vice-president of the State Medical Association, having held that position two years, and was vice-president of the Chattanooga Medical Association. By his union to Miss Elmira Wood be became the father of two children-one son and one daughter. His first wife died, and in 1873 be married Miss Laura Whitehead, who bore him two children, both deceased. Dr. Drake is a successful physician and has practiced his profession for about eleven years. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a man well respected.

Goodspeed's History of Tennessee 1887