mood penned many letters to his children. In these letters he pictures the
conditions under which his childhood was spent, the hardships of early pioneer
times in Kentucky, the struggles for existence, the habits and customs of the
simple, God-fearing people in whose midst he grew up, their sorrows and
innocent pleasures. Charles D. Drake, a distinguished member of the bar in
Missouri, gathered these letters written by his father, Dr. Drake, and pub-
lished them in 1870 under the title: "PIONEER LIFE IN KENTUCKY. A series
of reminiscential letters from DANIEL DRAKE, M.D., of Cincinnati, to his chil-
dren." These letters, written in quaint and naive style, full of pathos and
humor, are well worth perusal.
   Drake informs us that he was the second child of his parents, the first one, a
daughter, having died in infancy. His father was operating a gristmill and
doing a little farming near Plainfield, N. J. The Drakes were not doing very
well and thought of moving to Virginia, but changed their minds in favor of
Kentucky, where a colony of Baptists, who originally hailed from Newv Jersey,
had settled and was prospering. About that time many farmers from Virginia
and Maryland were moving into Kentucky which, since its first settlement, in
1778, was attracting more attention than any other part of the Western
country. Old Mr. Drake decided to begin life over again, and, with all the
earthly belongings of the family crowded into one two-horse Jersey wagon,
which also accommodated the family, started out for his new home in Ken-
tucky. The family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Drake, young Daniel, then two
years and seven months old, his little sister, who was an infant at the breast,
and an unmarried sister of Mrs. Drake. The wagon was hauled by two horses
over the steep and rugged Allegheny mountains and thoughout an overland
journey of nearly four hundred miles. The remaining portion of the trip
was by boat. Among other New Jersey emigrants who came West at the
time when the Drakes settled in Kentucky, were a number of people whose
names became prominently identified with the history of Cincinnati, particu-
larly John S. Gano, who settled in Columbia, now a suburb of Cincinnati, and
Dr. Wm. Goforth, Gano's brother-in-law, who eventually became Daniel
Drake's preceptor.
   Daniel Drake's ancestors had been illiterate farmers, to fortune and to
fame unknown, but they were industrious, honest, temperate and pious. To
spring from such ancestry, as he often remarked, is high descent in the sight
of heaven, if not in the estimation of man. Both his grandfathers had lived
in the very midst of the battle scenes of the Colonies' struggle for freedom.
Daniel's father and mother were typical countryfolk, of the plain, good old-
fashioned Baptist type. Drake speaks of his father as a man of inflexible
righteousness, industrious, rather progressive, not without business ability,
and devoted to his family. The references to his mother are touching in the
extreme. Drake speaks of her tenderness and sweet disposition, the merry
twinkle in her eye, her unceasing care for her family. He humorously em-
phasizes the fact that he inherited two traits from his exemplary mother:
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