By Pricilla Boswell

[Michael Drew is my great-great-great-great-great grandfather. He is the father of Margaret Drew Blackburn Bell, who was the mother of Judge William Blackburn and my great-great-great grandmother, Mary Ann Blackburn.]


1.  MICHAEL1 DREW; b. circa 1750 in Edinburgh?, Scotland; m. Elizabeth Woolf, daughter of Heinrich Woolf and Maria Margaretha, 3 May 1781 in Frederick Co., Maryland; d. by 1807? in Washington Co.?, Maryland?
     According to the family history that has been passed down in the Alt and Blackburn families, Michael Drew was born in Scotland and served 7 years in the British Army.  After he came to America,  he enlisted on April 7, 1776 as a private in Captain John Marshall’s Company F of the 2nd Battalion of the Pennsylvania State Rifle Regiment, commanded by Colonel Samuel Miles. Muster rolls for Capt. John Marshall’s Company have Michael Drew’s name for June, July, August, Sept., and Oct., 1776. (1.) 
    This Company was raised in the north end of the present county of Dauphin (Hanover Twp.) and saw active service at the Battle of Long Island, on Aug. 27, 1776.(2.)  His name appears on a return of arier pay due soldiers of Capt. John Marshall’s Company, 13th Pennsylvania Regiment, dated Dec. 28, 1777. Pay was due him for the months of Nov., Dec., Jan., Feb., Mar., and April for the amount of L15. (3.)  
    The Pennsylvania State Rifle Regiment,  usually known (from it’s commander’s name) as Miles’s Regiment,  was one of several formed for the purpose of providing for the defense of Pennsylvania proper. —– It was to consist of 1,000 men, enlisted until Jan. 1, 1778. They were to be armed with rifles, and would be organized in two battalions of six, seventy-eight-man companies each.  
   Miles’s Regiment was recruited almost completely to it’s authorized strength  within six weeks, and toward the end of June 1776, the companies assembled at Marcus Hook,  just above the Delaware boundary.  The men were generally untrained and undisciplined.  Sgt. James McMichael was surprised to note that on the first Sunday after his company had arrived,  “This day the soldiers appeared much intoxicated”. (4.)   Some of the major battles Miles’s Regiment took part in were the Battle of Long Island, Aug. 27, 1776 , the Battle of White Plains, Oct. 28, 1776, the attack on the Hessian garrison of Trenton, Dec. 26, 1776, and Princeton, N.J., on Jan. 3, 1777. 
   On Oct. 5, 1776, the Pennsylvania Council of Safety took steps toward consolidating the remnants of Miles’s Regiment and the Pennsylvania Battalion of Musketry into one unit,  the Pennsylvania State Regiment.  The new regiment was to have ten companies,  eight of them armed with muskets and the other two with rifles.   Early in 1777, the new regiment began to take shape and was officially activated (on paper) on March 1. It was commanded throughout it’s existence by Col. Walter Stewart. Company F of the Pennsylvania State Regt. was again commanded by Capt. John Marshall, who had commanded Company F in Miles’s Regiment.  He had fifty one veterans of the old regiment,  twenty two of the men having served under him. (One of which was Michael Drew) The Pennsylvania State Regt. appears to have been uniformed in a standard pattern by Mid-June of 1777.  The coat was blue, with red lining and facing, and white buttons inscribed P S R with the R below the P&S. (4.) 
    As part of the Pennsylvania State Regiment,  the unit participated in the Battle of Brandywine, Sept. 11, 1777,  and the Battle of Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777.   Meanwhile, on June 6, 1777,  the Pennsylvania authorities had offered the Pennsylvania State Regiment to Congress for incorporation into the Continental Army and was transfered formally to Continental service on June 10, 1777. It wasn’t until Nov. 12, 1777 that the Regiment was formally redesignated as the 13th Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line.  
    On Dec. 12, 1777, the 13th Pennsylvania, as well as Washington’s other troops marched to Gulph Mills, and a week later moved on to Valley Forge to go into winter quarters.   The 13th Pennsylvania was in the campaign ending with the Battle of Monmouth, on June 28, 1778.  The Regiment was attached to Anthony Wayne’s task force and held a position to defend the village of Freehold, N.J. The Battle of Monmouth marked the end of the outfit as reorganization of the army was directed and the 13th Pennsylvania was absorbed by the 2nd Pennsylvania on July 1, 1778. (4.) 
   The story has been handed down in the family that Michael Drew was with Washington’s Army at Valley Forge during that terrible winter. He was sleeping under a baggage wagon one cold night and the next morning his queue (or beard) was frozen to the ground. The other soldiers had to cut him loose with their bayonets. The story appears to be true as the 13th Pennsylvania Regiment Michael Drew served in was at Valley Forge with Washington.
    In April of 1776, Michael was evidently living in Hanover Twp., (then Lancaster Co.) Dauphin Co. Pa., when he enlisted in the army.  By May 1781, he had settled in Frederick Co., Maryland where he met and married Elizabeth Woolf and raised a family.  He was a tailor by trade and said to be very proud and particular in his dress. 
     Michael Trew or Drew was one of the witnesses to the marriage of Elizabeth’s sister Margaret Woolf to John Smith on Jan. 14, 1787 at the Monocacy Church in Frederick Co., Md. (5.)
     Michael was found on the 1800 census in Lower  Antietum Hundred, Washington Co., Md.,  but not after that date in either Maryland or Virginia. He may have died before Oct. 6, 1807,  when on that date an Elizabeth Drue married in Frederick Co., Md. to Jacob Roderick. (6.)   The 1810 census of Washington Co., Md. shows in the Jacob Roderick household, 1 male over 45 (Jacob), 1 female over 45 (Elizabeth?), 1 male under 10, 1 male 10-15 (Daniel?) and 1 male 16-25 (Abner?). If Elizabeth did marry Jacob Roderick, her daughter Maria Drew was not living in the household. (7.) Maria was possibly living with her sister Mary, who had married Jacob Alt Jr. (III). The 1810 census of Jefferson Co. Va. lists a female 10-15 living in the Jacob Alt Jr. household. (8.)
 
[.].  MICHAEL1(1.) Pennsylvania Archives Fifth Series, Vol. II (2.) Letter to Mrs. Roy P. Conway from State Library, Harrisburg, Pa., Nov. 20, 1935. (3.) Letter to Mrs. E.A. Dugat from the Adjutant General’s Office, Washington, D.C. – Oct. 24, 1935 (4.) The Pennsylvania Line Regimental Organization and Operations 1776-1783 by John B.B. Trussell Jr. (5.) Marriage and Burials at Monocacy Church and Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Frederick Co. Maryland 1743-1811. (6.) Frederick Co. Maryland Marriages 1778-1810. (7.) 1810 Washington Co. Maryland Census pg. 484. (8.) 1810 Jefferson Co. Virginia pg.16.
 
1     ELIZABETH WOOLF was born circa 1760 in Frederick Co., Maryland. Elizabeth may have married #2 Jacob Roderick(Rothrock), Oct. 6, 1807, Frederick Co., Md. Jacob Roderick is on the 1810 census of Washington Co., Md. age over 45, with one female over 45.    Jacob Rothrock married Elisabeth Drew Oct. 6, 1807 at the Evangelical Reformed Church, Frederick, Frederick Co. Md.
     Children of Michael1 Drew and Elizabeth Woolf all b. in Washington Co., Maryland, were as follows:
           2.        i.    Margaret2, b. 6 Feb 1782; m. Joseph Blackburn; m. James E. Bell.
                      ii.    Asahel; b. 26 Jun 1786; christened 13 Nov 1786 in Evangelical Reformed Church, Frederick, Frederick Co., Maryland.     Probably died young.
 

112           3.      iii.    Mary, b. 16 Jan 1791; m. Jacob III Alt; m. George Wein.
           4.       iv.    Abner, b. 16 Jan 1791; m. Edith Harris; m. Sarah Ann King.
                      v.    Daniel; b. 4 Jul 1794; d. 19 Dec 1870 in Henderson Co., Illinois, at age 76; bur. Dec 1870 in Oquawka Cemetery, Henderson Co., Illinois.
     Daniel Drew served in the War of 1812 from Jefferson Co., Va. , Captain Joseph Granthams Company, 55th Regiment Virginia Militia, March 31, 1814, Private.  On the 1830 Census of Jefferson Co. Va., there was a Daniel Drue age 30 to 39 living in Harpers Ferry and is probably the same Daniel.
    Daniel lived in Henderson Co., Ill. from at least 1840 to 1870 according to the census. He no doubt moved from Clark Co., Ohio  to Henderson Co., Illinois with the rest of the family about 1837.  Daniel Drew was one of the first Grand Jury members chosen by the Henderson County Commissioners April 19, 1841
    Daniel had one son Robert and two daughters. The oldest daughter ran away and married. Her sister went with her and settled in Galesburg, Ill.  Daniel was living with Franklin and Lucretia(Lake) Bacon in 1860.  In 1870, he was livng with George and Emily Sottle in Sagetown, Henderson Co., IIl.
 

Family Roots by Catherine Schilder;  1830 Jefferson Co. Va. Census ; 1840 Warren Co. Ill. Census;, 1860 and 1870 Henderson Co. Ill. Census; Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Henderson County, 1911; Henderson County, IL Cemeteries by Ross & Evans Vol II, Oquawka Cemetery.
 

           5.       vi.    Maria E., b. 1800; m. Adam Alt.

2.  MARGARET2 DREW (Michael1); b. 6 Feb 1782 in Washington Co., Maryland; christened 16 Mar 1782 in Evangelical Lutheran Church, Frederick, Frederick Co., Maryland; m. Joseph Blackburn circa 1810 in Jefferson Co. ?, Virginia; m. James E. Bell 11 Nov 1830 in Clark Co., Ohio; d. 1857 in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Co., California; bur. 1857 in Blackburn Family Plot, Evergreen Cem., Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Co., California.
     The family story is that Margaret’s husband was a butcher by trade and that he drowned in St. Mary’s River, Michigan about 1825. Margaret was living in Harmony Twp., Clark Co. Ohio, close to Jacob and Mary Drew Alt, on the 1830 census. There was 1 male 5-10 yrs., 1 female 10-15 (Maria), 1 female 20-30 (Mary Ann), and 1 female 30-40 (Margaret) living in the household at that time. This census age for Margaret seems to be too young, as she should be 48.
 Family Roots by Catherine Schilder
 Clark Co. Ohio Marriage Records 1818-1865
 1830 Clark Co. Ohio Census
 Denise Castellucci  queries posted May 8, 1998 on GenForum.
     JOSEPH BLACKBURN was born in 1788 in Charleston, Kanawha Co., Virginia. He died between 1824 and 1826 in Springfield, Clark Co., Ohio.
     Children of Margaret2 Drew and Joseph Blackburn were as follows:
           6.        i.    Mary Ann3, b. 23 Dec 1810 in Harpers Ferry, Jefferson Co., Virginia; m. James Morgan.
                      ii.    William; b. 14 Feb 1814 in Harpers Ferry, Jefferson Co., Virginia; m. Harriet Mead Jul 1859 in Santa Cruz, California; d. 25 Mar 1867 in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Co., California, at age 53; bur. in Evergreen Cemetery, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Co., California.
     William was the oldest son and was in the Mexican War. He settled in Santa Cruz, California and was a Circuit Judge and the first Alcade of Santa Cruz.
                     iii.    Daniel Drew; b. 8 Apr 1816 in Harpers Ferry, Jefferson Co., Virginia; m. Cecilia Dunn 15 Sep 1866 in San Luis Obispo Co., California.
     In 1867, D.D. Blackburn was the proprietor of the Hot Springs Hotel in San Luis Obispo, California.
           7.       iv.    Maria A., b. circa 1817 in Harpers Ferry, Jefferson Co., Virginia; m. John A. Lynn; m. Col. William Findley; m. Frank Kirshner.
                      v.    James Hanson; b. 20 Sep 1820 in Harpers Ferry, Jefferson Co., Virginia; d. after 1883 in Watsonville, Santa  Cruz  Co., California.
     James and his brother Jacob lived near Springfield, Ohio until 1837, when they went to Henderson Co., (then Warren) Illinois. They moved to California in 1842. James never married.
                     vi.    Jacob A.; b. 12 Jun 1823 in Springfield, Clark Co., Ohio; m. Aminda Short 14 Dec 1854 in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Co., California; d. 23 Jan 1898 in Watsonville ?, Santa Cruz, California, at age 74; bur. in Watsonville, Santa Cruz Co.,, California.
     JAMES E. BELL died in 1835 in Clark Co., Ohio. He was also known as James Beall.
     There were no children of Margaret2 Drew and James E. Bell.
 
  
  

   

Â