Adolphus "Dolphus" Drake is known as a Bedford County gunsmith from a tax list, an advertisement, and an eyewitness account.
L. Dietle
Chronology
The 1953 edition of Gluckman's "American Gun Makers" states that Adolphus Drake was born on August 18, 1852 in the vicinity of Cumberland, Maryland and moved into the Everett, Bedford County area in 1873, lived to celebrate his 100th birthday anniversary on August 18, 1952, performed gun repairs and made percussion rifles as a sideline, and had worked as a Carpenter, a tanner, and a miner.
1860: The 2001 book "Gunsmiths of Bedford, Fulton, Huntingdon & Somerset Counties" by Whisker & Yantz reports that Isaac Drake is enumerated in Flintstone, Maryland in the 1860 census. I don't doubt this is true, but I couldn't find an entry for Isaac or George Drake when I looked through the manuscript copies of the census records for the Allegany County, Maryland District 9, which gives a Flintstone post office address.
1870: The household of 45-year-old Isaac Drake and 50-year-old Loretta Drake is enumerated on page 7 of the Allegany County, Maryland District 9 census record (Flintstone post office address), along with 19-year-old Edward, 12-year-old Sanford, 8-year-old Daniel B., 5-year-old Isaac, and 3-year-old Loretta. Adolphus is not listed in the household. I also did not find Adolphus in the manuscript 1870 census records of the Borough of Bloody Run, Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
1876-1953: According to his obituary in the October 26, 1953 issue of the "Bedford Gazette" newspaper, J. Howard Drake, a son of Dolphus Drake, was born on February 27, 1876.
1877-1944: Sebastian Drake is buried at the Westmoreland County Memorial Park, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. His tombstone indicates he was born on August 29, 1877 and died on November 12, 1944. His obituary indicates he was a son of Adolphus and Julia Drake
1877: The following image from the Everett section of the 1877 book "County Atlas of Bedford Pennsylvania" shows the residence and shop of Dolphus Drake on North Spring Street:
The following photo was taken on September 20, 2021. The house with the Marines flag and two satellite dishes is situated approximately where the house of Dolphus Drake is illustrated on the above 1877 map.
The following photo of Dolphus Drake's gun shop was contributed by an individual from Everett who obtained it at a local estate auction. The writing on the back of the photo states, "gun shop, D Drake".
The following 1902 topo shows the terrain in the vicinity of Everett. This terrain can be matched up to the preceding photo of Dolphus Drake's gun shop.
1878: In the 1878-1879 edition of "Farquhar's Official Directory of Bedford County, Pennsylvania" Adolphus Drake is identified as a carpenter in Everett.
1880: According to Kauffman's 1960 book "The Pennsylvania - Kentucky Rifle", Dolfus Drake is identified as a gunsmith in the 1880 tax roll of Everett Borough in Bedford county, lived to the ripe old age of 103 years, and was the last of the original old-time Bedford County gunsmiths. The book describes him as being an accurate marksman, and states that once at a Turkey Shoot he won 19 turkeys of the 25 awarded that day.
1880: According to her obituary in the December 22, 1967 issue of the "Bedford Gazette" newspaper, Miss Bertha O. Drake, daughter of Dolphus and Julia (Pennell) Drake, was born on July 4, 1880 and had five brothers who preceded her in death: Howard Drake, Sebastian Drake, William Drake, John Drake, and Frank Drake.
1880: The following except is from the 1880 census of West Providence Township. It lists Adolphus Drake as a tannery worker and identifies his wife Julia and his young sons Howard and Sebastian. He is listed near William M. Snyder, who is listed as a gunsmith in the 1900 census.
1880-1930: James B. Whisker's 1990 book "Arms Makers of Pennsylvania" indicates that Adolphus Drake was active as a gunsmith in the town of Everett in Bedford County, Pennsylvania from circa 1880 to circa 1930.
1882: Dolphus Drake's son Frank is buried in the Everett Cemetery, where his tombstone states, "Frank W. Drake son of D. and J. Drake born Aug. 5, 1882 died Aug. 29, 1915, aged 33 ys, 24 ds."
1885: William H. Drake, a son of Adolphus and Julia Drake, is buried at the Westmoreland County Memorial Park, where his tombstone indicates he was born on October 29, 1885 and died on January 31, 1967.
1888: The following advertisement promoting the gunsmith services of Adolphus Drake is from the May 16, 1888 issue of the "Everett Press" newspaper:
1899: Maryland gunsmith Isaac Drake is buried at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Allegany County, Maryland. His tombstone indicates he was born on April 24, 1824 and died on April 21, 1899.
1900: The following excerpt is from the 1900 census records of West Providence Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
1910: The members of the Adolphus Drake household are enumerated in following except from the 1910 census of West Providence Township.
1915: According to his obituary in the September 10, 1915 issue of the "Bedford Gazette" Newspaper, Frank W. Drake, a son of Adolphus and Julia Drake, was 33 years old when he died on August 29, 1915. The obituary indicates he was survived by three brothers and a sister who lived in Everett (Howard, Sebastian, William, Bertha) and a brother John who lived in Bakersfield, California.
1920: The following except is from the 1920 census of West Providence Township.
1922: Dolphus Drake's wife is buried in the Everett Cemetery in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Her tombstone states, "Julia Pennell wife of Dolphus Drake born Aug. 1, 1847 died Dec. 27, 1922. Her death certificate follows:
1930: I did not find a listing for Dolphus Drake when I looked through the manuscript 1930 census records of Everett Borough and West Providence Township.
1934: The following obituary from the February 16, 1934 issue of the "Everett Press" indicates that Dolphus Drake was a son of George Drake and a brother to Sandford, David, Richard, Isaac, and Marion Drake. One of Dolphus Drake's own obituaries, which is included farther below, indicates that his father was George Isaac Drake.
1940: The following obituary from the April 19, 1940 issue of the "Everett Press" indicates that Dolphus Drake had a brother named Isaac Drake.
1940: The following item from the book "Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Harrisburg Consistory, 32°, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry 1865--1940" shows that Dolphus M. Drake was a member of the Everett chapter of the Freemasons:
1944: As noted above, Adolphus and Julia Drake's son Sebastian died on November 12, 1944.
Circa 1947: In the book "The Bedford County Rifle and Its Makers", Calvin Hetrick describes a visit to Dolph's shop in Everett, Pennsylvania sometime around 1947. At the time of the visit, Dolph was preparing nitric acid for use in darkening rifle stocks. The process involved applying the nitric acid to the stock and then holding the stock over a fire. Dolph said he was born in Alleghany County, Maryland in 1853, and was the son of the gunsmith Isaac Drake. He also said his rifling guide was made by Daniel Border, and was purchased and used by David Defibaugh after Daniel Border's death. Dolph used straw for shimming material to increase the depth of cut. Hetrick reported that Dolph was then selling his rifles in the $16.00 to $20.00 range, although decorated rifles were priced considerably more. Hetrick reported that Dolph was using conventional sand casting techniques to produce trigger guards. At the time of the visit, Dolph was 93 years old.
1953: According to his obituary in the October 26, 1953 issue of the "Bedford Gazette" newspaper, J. Howard Drake, a son of Dolphus Drake, died as a result of an unusual vehicular accident that occurred on October 19, 1953. The tombstone of J. Howard Drake indicates he died on October 24, 1953.
1955: Dolphus Drake is buried in the Everett Cemetery in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. His tombstone states, "Dolphus Drake Aug, 18, 1853 Apr, 14, 1955".
1955: The following obituary of Adolphus Drake is from The April 15, 1955 issue of the "Bedford Gazette" newspaper:
1955: The following obituary of Adolphus Drake, which is from The April 22, 1955 issue of the "Everett Press" newspaper, indicates that his parents were George Isaac Drake and Loretta (Haney) Drake:
2017: Dolphus Drake's rifling guide was sold at auction as an antique in 2017 for $1,000.00.
Misc:
The 2001 Whisker & Yantz book states that Dolph eventually received a blindness-related pension. James' father Vaughn was Dolph's case worker, and knew Dolph well. James B. Whisker reports that Dolph was talented and kindly, and for a time had his property fenced with old musket and rifle stocks. James B. Whisker also reports that gun collector R. Armstrong Farber's father and Dolph performed carpentry work on the Airondale Hotel. The gunstock fence story is repeated in Whisker's July, 2010 article, which indicates that the referenced fence was at the last home of Adolphus Drake, which was just a little south of the borough of Everett on Black Valley Road.
According to the 2017 book "Gunsmiths of Bedford County, Pennsylvania", Dolphus indicated that his father Isaac Drake was better as a gunsmith than Dolphus was.
Work product:
Go to the Korns family genealogy home page
1853: Dophus Drake's tombstone indicates that he was born on August 18, 1853. The Whiskers' 1983 booklet "Gunsmiths and Gunmakers of Bedford and Somerset Counties Pennsylvania 1770-1900" indicates that Dolphus Drake was the son of (Maryland gunsmith) Isaac Drake, and was born near Flintstone, Maryland. An obituary included below indicates that Dolphus Drake was a son of George Isaac Drake and Loretta (Haney) Drake.
James B. Whisker wrote a short article about Adolphus Drake for the July, 2010 issue of the "Muzzle Blasts" magazine. It reports that a shop Adolphus Drake had was also used by Sheridan Leach and David Defibaugh. I don't know if that is a reference to the same gunshop that is shown in the photograph included above.
To see photos of antique muzzleloader firearms made in Somerset and Bedford county, Pennslyvania, see the Gunsmith Project Index.
