Gilbert Drew (abt. 1732 - 1812)

Born about 11 Apr 1732 in West Farms, Westchester, New York [uncertain]

Husband of Sarah (Hunt) Drew — married 5 Jul 1753 in Yorktown, Westchester, New York

Descendants

Died 26 Mar 1812 at about age 79 in Brewster, Southeast, Putnam, New York

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Rev Daniel Washburn Jones [send private message], R Adams [send private message], and Anonymous Smith [send private message]

Biography

Please share your yDNA results if you are in the male line of any Drew branch!!!

Wives and Children

Gilbert and his first wife, Sarah Hunt Drew, had many children.

Children with Sarah Hunt

• William, b. May 22 1755 (pension record)
• Isaac, b.1757
• Mary, b.ca 1759
• Samuel, b.1760
• Elizabeth, b.ca 1763
• Hannah, b.ca 1765
• John, b.ca 1767
• Gilbert, b.1769
• Sarah
• James?

Children with Catherine Muckleworth

• Daniel, b.1797
• Thomas, b.1798.

Revolutionary War Service: a Family Affair

Gilbert served as a Sergeant in the Revolutionary War with the 7th Regt, Dutchess County Militia. He served alongside three of his own sons, Isaac, William and Samuel, each of whom was a Private. The family story is that he could not bear to see his young sons disappear down that road to join General Washington alone, so he hoofed along after them. What is documented is they were all serving under Lt. Colonel Reuben Ferris and Colonel Henry Luddington. In 1786 Gilbert received his certificate in full, and the index page for this shows his son Samuel Drew and son-in-law Eber Townsend as well. ^[1]

It appear Gilbert was paid by the quartermaster for a weeks worth of hauling with a team in 1781, though this could have been his young son Gilbert. ^[2]

After the war, Colonel Ferris's daughter Sarah, married Gilbert's son, Isaac Drew. Gilbert's daughter Elizabeth married Eber Townsend, another member of the regiment. And Mary Townsend, thought to be Eber's sister, married Gilbert Drew the younger, Gilbert's son. Later Gilbert Drew's Will will express some peculiar concern for the circumstance of this daughter Elizabeth who was thought to have married Eber Townsend at a very young age.

Resident of Putnam County Area as Early as 1777

In "The History of Putnam County" Gilbert Drew is listed on the 1777 Tax list of Phillip Phillipse Patent. The many people on the list seem to be tenant landholders of Phillipse. Reuben Ferris is listed as well. Later in the account the exact location of Gilbert Drew's acreage where he raised his last two children is described, including a note that the land was much later sold to a Townsend, possibly a relation to his daughters husband's family. From this History it is clear his son Daniel became a notable influence on this county. From other records, some of the Redding, Fairfield, Connecticut Drews also settled in Phillipstown. Redding was not that far to the Phillipse Patent Acreages.

Early life: Apprenticed at West Farms, New York

Map of West Farms 1663

Long ago on the West edge of the Bronx river there were farms, but also some small mills to grind the grain and a cottage industry of producing cloth. That was West Farms, and it was near where the Bronx Zoo now stands.

Gilbert Drew was apprenticed as a young child, presumably as a weaver since on his marriage record he was said to have listed occupation as a weaver. Gilbert at age nine or ten was mentioned in the will of John Hedger of West Farms, New York. This was dated December 5, 1741, and Hedger leaves " . . . to my wife Hannah the services of my two apprentices, Thomas Cromwell and Gilbert Drew." Hedger appoints his wife and his "kinsman," David Hunt, as executors. When the will was drawn. We do not know how long, at that point, Gilbert had been Mr. Hedger's apprentice or his relation to the Hedger family.

Recent research on the history of West Farms, shows that Thomas Hunt Jr. had come to own much of West Farms through his wife Elizabeth Jessup's inheritance. Her father was one of two original patent holders of the entire area. After some years their descendants elected to split up the large holding into 12 "Farms." It was after a 1711 land division that Hannah (born in 1679 as a Gardner) and John Hedger inherited some portion of West Farms through her family connections. What they received was subdivided into an area known then as "Hivetown." The sequence of inheritances shows that Hannah, Hedger's wife, had a strong enough connection to the Hunt family to be one of the inheritors of a great estate, though she also inherited from the Gardner and Ganoung families.

David Hunt was named both executor and "Kinsman" in John Hedger's will. According to her Geni profile, Hannah Hedger had a sister who married to Thomas Hunt who had a nephew David b.1691. Other members of the Hunt family also associated with Mr. Hedger. Notably, later Gilbert Drew would marry Sarah Hunt who appears to be the younger relation of this Hunt family.

Hedger's other apprentice was his wife's family relation who had been orphaned when his father, Thomas Cromwell died. Did Gilbert have a family relation also to the Hedgers, the Cromwells, or the Hunts? Was he also orphaned? Or was the opportunity to train as a weaver simply a privilege not to be missed?

Later Years as described in his Son Daniel Drew's Biography

After Sarah Hunt Drew's death, Gilbert remarried to Catharine Lawrence Muckleworth and had two children who they raised on their farm near Carmel, New York.

Their son Daniel became a noted Wall Street Trader, sometimes considered a Robber Baron because of various large deals regarding railroads and steamship lines. He is said to have coined the phrase "watered stock" when comparing artificially inflated financial stock to cattle that had been bulked up with salted water. Later this coinage was flipped to suggest that he had as a young man literally cheated his buyers by thus watering his cattle.

This son, Daniel, founded Drew Theological Seminary and built other religious edifices. He was the subject of a scathing biography after his death and a second more measured biography even later. The second biography luckily includes a description of Gilbert Drew's later years as the elder Gilbert raised Daniel and his brother Thomas on the Drew Farm, a place said to be Gilbert's first owned home.

The Last Will and testament of Gilbert Drew

(punctuation added, original spellings intact.)

In the name of God Amen, I, Gilbert Drew, of the town of South East county of Dutchess and State of New York, being weake in body but of sound and perfect memory, blessed be Almighty God for the same, do make and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form following; that is to say; first, I commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God who gave it to me and my body to the Earth from whence it came in hope of a Joyful resurrection through the merits of my Savior Jesus Christ; and as for the worldly Estate where with it has pleased God to bless me, I dispose thereof as follows:I will that all my Just and Honest debts be paid out of my Estate;I will that my whole Estate be kept and improved at the discretion of my Executors herein named for the use and purpose of Supporting and Educating my two sons Daniel and Thomas untill the said Daniel and Thomas arrive at the full age of twenty one years;I will that after my debts are paid out of my Estate, my two sons Daniel and Thomas shall have out of my Estate the sum of Eighty dollars each;I will that my daughter Hannah have a decent and comefortable support out of my Estate in like manner as my two sons Daniel and Thomas untill my son Thomas shall arrive at age of twenty one years and the said Hannah to live with my wife untill the above time -- then the said Hannah shall have out of my Estate the sum of one hundred and seventy five dollars;I will to my beloved wife Catherine two of the best feather beds and bedding at her own disposal;I will to my daughter Elizabeth, wife of Eber Townsend, five shillings;I will that all the Remainder of my Estate after my Just debts and the abovementioned Legacies are paid, shall be equally divided among my children with this proviso:that the proportional part of my Estate after paying my debts and the Legacies abovementioned which will fall to my daughter Elizabeth, wife of Eber Townsend, shall be placed in the hands of Samuel Drew for the use of my daughter Elizabeth should she stand in need; if not, it is my will that it be equally divided among the children of my Daughter Elizabeth:and my Estate to be equally divided as before mentioned between;William Drew, Isaac Drew, Samuel Drew, John Drew, Gilbert Drew, Daniel Drew, Thomas Drew; Mary, Elizabeth, Hannah, Sarah, my daughters;I will to my beloved wife immediately after my Diceas one horse saddle & bridle to be at her disposal and for her use as long as she remains my widow whom I hereby appoint Executrix, and Considerate Coshman and Andrew Ferris Executors of my Last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former wills by me made in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal the twenty first day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ten.

Gilbert Drew (L.S.)

Signed, Sealed, published and declared by the above named Gilbert Drew to be his Last Will and testament in the presence of us who have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses in the presence of the testator, Hervey Newell, Amplias Yeomans, Isaac Pierce; -- Dutchess County. Filed with Surrogate's Court, County of Dutchess, and admitted into probate and recorded on the 9th day of April, 1812.Recorded in the Dutchess County Surrogate's Office in Liber D of Wills, Page 47.

Burial at Drewsclift Cemetery

Gilbert is buried in Drewsclift Cemetery Brewster, Putnam County, New York. Drewsclift was Daniel Drew's estate. You can peruse many interrelated Drew graves of this period including his at the Find A Grave link in the sources, though this link incorrectly presents Cornelius and Sarah Bartlett Drew as Gilbert's parents. There are both Clifts and Drews buried in Drewsclift.

Caution: Gilbert Drew of West Farms had many namesakes

This Gilbert Drew had one son and at least three grandsons with his exact same name. so precise interpretation of first-hand sources such as the 1790 Census at Fredrickstown difficult.

This Gilbert Drew is not the son of Cornelius Drew and Sarah Bartlett of Kingston, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. That couple had a large family as can be seen on Cornelius's Find A Grave profile, and this Gilbert is often incorrectly linked to them. They cannot Gilbert's parents due to their son William being born six months before Gilbert, due to all of their actual children being so well-documented in Plymouth Records, and due to y-DNA results showing they are not all that closely related.

Possibly Irish, Possibly of Plymouth's William Drew (b. 1694)

One source, "The Biographical and Historical Record of Jay and Blackford Counties, Indiana" goes as far as to say that Gilbert Drew was native to Ireland. In which case perhaps we should be searching ship logs for a very young lad who made a crossing in the 1730's.

An entirely different line of inquiry follows the extraordinary child naming resonances (noted by J. Ackerman) between Gilbert Drew and Captain Captain John Drew of Connecticut , suggesting the two may be siblings and that their own father may have been named William Drew (William b. circa 1694 at Bridgewater, Plymouth?) Gilbert and John's "Geni" profiles link them in this configuration with father William, though without a direct source. J. Ackerman has clearly found both name resonances and evidence that some of Gilbert's children or grandchildren went to live near the Connecticut Drew descendants of Captain John, but definite proof is lacking for this connection.

Note: Thomas Drew, a later son of Gilbert, had a family bible listing Gilbert's birth year as 1730, though most sources say 1732. The Family Search database refers to his birthplace as "Yorktown" (SOURCES Family History Library Family History Library , Microfilm : 1553909. Can anyone access and screen clip the original source for this ?). He is sometimes incorrectly connected to a Barnstable Massachusetts family headed by Cornelius Drew and/or his wife Sarah Bartlett as is noted above.

The Hunt for Gilbert's Parents: DNA testing as a tool

Since there is some circumstantial, non-conclusive, evidence that Gilbert Drew was likely the brother of Captain John Drew and an unknown Isaac Drew who all share a father named William. This is where DNA could help:

Y-DNA results could confirm which line of Drews Gilbert was from. We can already use DNA to rule out some lines of Drew such as the large Dover/Oyster River, New Hampshire branch.

If you are male and have a direct male lineage up ANY of the Drew lines, please do a full sequence Y-DNA test and share results with the Drew Family Study which is now located at: FamilyTreeDNA: www.familytreedna.com/groups/drew/about

More results would be helpful from descendants of :

• John Drew of Plymouth, MA
• John Drew of Redding CT.
• Francis Drew (son of William Drew of NH)

The Study tracks Drew lineage yDNA results from around the world.

Full sized chart visible at : https://www.familytreedna.com/public/drew?iframe=yresults

The Hunt for Gilbert's Parents: Web posts

Descendants Nora and Jim Drew had done an in depth blog presenting years of on-going research by Gilbert Drew. Possibly this is no longer online.

Much on-line information about Gilbert Drew has been posted over the years by J Ackerman, James A, presumably James Ackerman.

• http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/drew/172/
• Related Gilbert and Hunt surnames: https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:3269383&id=I640575438

Censuses: New York census records show Gilbert at Fredrickstown in 1790, likely his son, and then Carmel in 1800 likely him. He died in the Carmel/Brewster area in 1812.

Sources

1. ↑ Fold 3 image of military records index associated with Col. Luddington, Vol 8, p.238
2. ↑ https://www.fold3.com/image/286739557

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20149874/gilbert-drew

• Ordinance Charts for Gilbert Drew and Sarah Hunt and for Gilbert and Catherine Muckleworth Courtesy of Church of Latter Day Saints

• Biography of Daniel Drew mentioning Gilbert Drew

• New York Marriage Record of Sarah and GIlbert Drew noted in the Hunt Genealogy

• The History of Putnam County by William Pelletreau p. 125 and p. 600

• Biographical and Historical Record of Jay and Blackford Counties, Indiana pg 798, 799

• Thorough Person and family details from LDS records at Family Search

• Useful Family Search Chart: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/K455-SDS

• Documentation of Family Group of Gilbert Drew and Sarah Hunt from LDS records at Family Search
• DAR public info about Gilbert Drew

• Revolutionary War record: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9WB-SVS7?i=331&cc=2068326

• SAR Membership: 88538

• Detailed family chart with Hunt and children

• Detailed chart with Muckelworth and children

• Gilbert and Sons enlisted in Revolutionary War

• John Hedger's Will Mentioning Apprentices

• Record of Hannah and John Hedger inheriting a block of West Farms in 1711 (use "control F to scan for Hedger in this source)

• Wills of Benjamin Garner and Margret Genoung mentioning Hannah Hedger

• Will of Benjamin Gardner

• Wikipedia show history of Hunt family as major and owners of West Farm

• Geni Profile with possibility of William Drew as father and John as brother

• List of many descendants of Gilbert Drew

• 1884 Plot map of what was Grove Farm area of West Farms

• Map of Phillip Phillipese Land Patent

• Will Drew's fantastic article about the relation between Townsends and Drews recounting Father Gilbert joining the War

• Gilbert Drew mentioned in 1952 issue of the New York Biolographical and Genealogical Record (NYBGR) (Volume 83, p.53) and in 1970 in NYBGR, Volume 101, page 82, an article entitled "Gilbert Drew, His Wives and Children" in which is quoted some hearsay ancestral evidence.

• "New York in the Revolution as Colony and state"

• "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:9Z4P-G5R : accessed 30 May 2019), entry for Matilda Drew; file (2:2:2:MM9R-S49), submitted 6 January 2004 by LouanneBarrett1 [identity withheld for privacy].

• Abstract of Will from Dutchess. Marriage Records 1763–1797, Cemetery Records, Gravestone Transcription Records, Religious Records 1832–1849, Wills 1752–1818

Acknowledgments

• research and biography by R Adams
• much credit to James Ackerman
• Equal credit to Nora and Jim Drew whose family has researched the Drews for generations
• Initial import of Ancestors of Lois Greene.ged on 19 October 2010.
• Jo-Ann Wright family history

• Please share your yDNA results if you are in the male line of any Drew branch!!!