Harry Augustus Drew (1875-1936)

Harry Augustus Drew, born 03 Jun 1875 in New Limerick, Aroostook, Maine, was my husband's great-grandfather. His parents were Augustus Hussey Drew (1848-1923) and Margaret Grant (1839-1920).

Harry Augustus Drew

This is cropped from a larger photo of Harry and his son, Mervyn.

It was probably taken in Santa Clara, CA about 1935.

The photo was passed to my husband from his father.

Augustus Hussey Drew is believed to be the son of Moses Drew (1801-1877) and Joanna White (1810-1889). The family is found on the 1850 federal census with two daughters and another son. These children are much older than Augustus, with the oldest girl, Lorena, 21 years old when he was born. The 1850 census doesn't name the relationship between the members of a family, so I have always considered the possibility that Augustus could have been the illegitimate son of Lorena. I'm still looking for solid answers to that question. Even if it someday turns out that he was Lorena's son, there is still a biological relationship to Moses and Joanna, so I'll leave things as they are for now, but with a big fat question mark on my research notes.

Margaret Grant was the youngest of seven children born to James Grant (1797- unknown) and Margaret White (1801-1888) from New Brunswick, Canada. She was born in Aroostook County, Maine, and lived there her entire life. Margaret's first husband, Joseph P. Grant, died in 1864 in the Civil War. The following year, two of their three young children died, leaving her widowed with a young son, Carleton.


Margaret and her son moved into the Moses Drew household, where her older sister Mary was living with her husband, Moses, Jr., an older brother to Augustus. Margaret is listed as a domestic servant in the 1870 census with that family. Augustus must have fallen in love with her, though she was almost 10 years his senior, and they were married on 6 January 1874 in New Limerick, Aroostook, Maine. Harry made his entrance the following year.

By the time the family was visited by the 1880 census-taker, two more children had been born. Mamie Gertrude was born in 1877 and Lenora Ethel in 1879. Carleton had established his own home right next door.

Year: 1880; Census Place: New Limerick, Aroostook, Maine; Roll: 477; 
Family History Film: 1254477; Page: 483A; Enumeration District: 219; 
Image: 0240 Accessed online at Ancestry.com, 21 July 2016.

    Family number 52

Augustus N Drew, 31, works in sawmill

Margrett Drew, 41, wife, keeping house

Harry A. Drew, 5, son

Mame G. Drew, 3, daughter

Lenora E. Drew, 1, daughter

Margrett Grant, 78, mother-in-law

Chas. C. Pollymore, 46, boarder, laborer

    Family number 53

Carlton O Grant, 21, farmer

I came across a book that described the area of a mill owned by Moses Drew and the family homesite. It's not known if this was our Moses, but it's likely since we know the family was living in that area. This may have been the mill where Augustus was working. More research is being done on the family in that area. Here is an excerpt from that book:

"There are two lakes, called the Limerick Lakes, of about three miles in length, averaging half a mile in width. Upon the thoroughfare between the lakes there is a saw-mill, the property of Mr. Moses Drew, some nine miles from the village of Houlton, and a valuable quarry of limestone, where are two kilns, from which Houlton and the adjacent country are supplied with lime. The eastern lake is separated from the west branch of the Meduxnakeag by a swell of land, running nearly east and west, upon which those families settled, presenting a romantic view of the lake on the south, and the more remote settlement at the north. Those lakes afforded many pleasure excursions, sometimes on rafts, in log canoes or skiffs, frequently combining pastime with fishing, which was found expedient in those days of all work."

excerpt from - J. Kendall and George H. Gilman. History of the Town of Houlton, Maine, from 1804 to 1883. Haverhill, Massachusetts: CC Morse & Son, Book and Job Printers, 1884. Pages 33-34. Accessed online 21 Jul 2016 at https://archive.org/strea/historyoftownofh00kend.

Today these lakes are known as Nickerson Lake (the eastern lake from the passage) and Meduxnekeag (or Drews) Lake. There is a road that runs along the northern shore of Nickerson Lake through the tiny town of New Limerick called Drews Lake Road. It meets a road near Meduxnekaug Lake that turns south called Drews Mill Road. It's clear that the Drew family was prominent in the early days of settlement in the area. What fun it would be to take a trip there and explore the area in person.

The railroad came to Aroostook County in 1870, ending at Houlton. It brought big changes to the area, and it changed the course of Harry's life. With the arrival of the railroad, the lumber industry began to decline. There is a twenty year gap before another record is found for Harry, but by 1900, both he and his father had relocated to the town of Houlton where jobs were more plentiful. Harry was employed as a truckman, which, according to Merriam-Webster, was a member of a fire department that operated a hook and ladder truck. On 21 March 1900, Harry married Jennie E. McDonald. Jennie was born in Canada in April of 1877, the daughter of William and Emeline McDonald. The family migrated to Houlton, Maine in 1887, where Jennie's brother, William, was born a few years later. It's assumed the parents died before 1900, because young Willie is living with his older sister and her new husband, Harry in the census that year.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Houlton, Aroostook, Maine; Roll: 589; Page: 8A; 
Enumeration District: 0027; FHL microfilm: 1240589. 
Accessed online at Ancestry.com, 22 July 2016.

I've not been able to find out what happened to Jennie, but by about 1905, Harry traveled across the country to California, without her. The railroad took him there. Probably, it literally "took" him there, but what I meant was, from that time on, Harry was employed with the railroad in Santa Clara, California.

In 1906, he married Nellie Gertrude Miller, the daughter of William Miller and Irene Sabra Scarritt. Nellie was born on 10 December 1872 in Iowa, the oldest of three children. By 1900, she and her widowed mother are both found in California, employed in different households, as servants. I've not been able to find what became of Nellie's sister Florence, or of her brother, Ervin. After Nellie and Harry were married, Irene moved in with them and lived in their home the rest of her life.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Santa Clara, Santa Clara, California; Roll: T624_106; 
Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 0108; FHL microfilm: 1374119. 
Accessed online at Ancestry.com, 22 July 2016.

In the first four years of their marriage, Harry and Nellie had two children that died by the time the 1910 census was taken. See the center of the image above where the numbers 2 and 0 are recorded. They are in columns labeled "number born" and "number now living", information that was asked of all mothers. Irene has also lost a child by this time, but it's not known which of Nellie's siblings had died. An interesting thing about this census is that column with the "M1" on the line for both Harry and Nellie. This denotes that the marriage is the first for them both. I wonder why Harry didn't divulge his earlier marriage to Jennie. It makes me think that he may have been hiding something... Hmmm. Not shown on the cropped image above is Harry's occupation, Motorman for Street RR, or the columns showing that he owns his house free of any mortgage. The railroad and California are treating him well financially.

On 20 April 1911, in Santa Clara, Harry and Nellie welcomed a son, Mervyn Augustus Drew.

A few years later, in 1918, Harry completed the draft registration for World War I. His registration was part of the third round, for men aged thirty-one to forty-five. This registration gives his full name, address, birthdate, occupation and employer, signature, and a physical description - tall, 5'10", medium build, brown hair and brown eyes. This doesn't mean he ever served, and I don't believe he did. All men in certain age groups were required to register and it was a pretty big deal.

United States, Selective Service System. 
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. 
Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. 
Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.
Registration State: California; Registration County: Los Angeles; Roll: 1544322. 
Accessed online at Ancestry.com, 22 July 2016. 



Year: 1920; Census Place: San Jose, Santa Clara, California; Roll: T625_148; Page: 22A; Enumeration District: 183; Image: 361. Accessed online at Ancestry.com, 22 July 2016.

The 1920 federal census, shown above, now includes little Mervyn. The family is living in the same house as in 1910 and Harry is still employed as a motorman with the railroad. Below, in 1930, we learn a bit more as new information was added for this year. The $5000, center column, is the value of their home and it's consistent with values of other homes on the street. The "R" next to it shows that the family owned a radio. Harry is still employed as a motorman, working for Peninsula Railway. The Peninsula Railway was a commuter train that ran daily back and forth between San Francisco and San Jose. Harry's mother-in-law is no longer listed. I haven't found a death record for her, but assume that she has died.

Year: 1930; Census Place: San Jose, Santa Clara, California; Roll: 219; Page: 18B; 
Enumeration District: 0070; Image: 391.0; FHL microfilm: 2339954

This is a photo of the home as it looks today, from Realtor.com, accessed 22 July 2016. http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/383-Atlanta-Ave_San-Jose_CA_95125_M22529-42961. Originally No. 4 Atlanta St., it later became known as 383 Atlanta Ave. The home was built in 1910 and was small by today's standards with only two bedrooms and one bath.

Harry is believed to have died in January 1936, though I don't have any records of his death. However, in the 1940 census, Nellie is listed as widowed so we have confirmation that he died before 1940. Nellie lived to be 103 years old, passing in 1976. One hundred and three! But that's another blog post...