A quick search of the IGI shows that there were dozens of Thomas Drakes born 1620-40 in England. To date, there is no evidence identifying the Thomas Drake who appeared in Weymouth MA in the 1660s as the Thomas Drake who was bapt. 16 Apr 1635 in Colyton, Devon. There are some researchers who crankily assert that this identification is solid, but they are engaging in extreme wishful thinking. For example, read this October 2003 message to the DEVON list, by a researcher who is "convinced that both Thomas Drake and Elizabeth (Drake) Hamlyn are the children of William and Margaret (Westover) Drake of Yardbury, co. Devon, England."
By the end of the message, however, the author has provided NO EVIDENCE identifying Thomas Drake, other than the fact that the proposed immigrant was the appropriate age and that a few of his third cousins emigrated or had ties to New England. In "the multitude of wills, records, books and documents obtained," there is nothing connecting the Thomas Drake of Weymouth to the Thomas Drake of Colyton. This researcher seems to be attempting a "preponderance of evidence" case, but fails because there is no evidence. In a December 2001 message thread on the GEN-MEDIEVAL list, several researchers seemed to make an attempt to steer this writer in the right direction, but apparently (as evidenced by the Oct 2003 message) the advice didn't take.
As I mentioned in my comment the other day, the source of a lot of the nonsense about Drake genealogy in America was con artists posing as estate lawyers and genealogists between about 1880-1935. You can read about the climax of the scam in this Wikipedia profile of the most famous of these con men, Oscar Hartzell.
Apparently, the con artists would approach someone named Drake and ask them questions about their family. When the family came up with an ancestor with a name and dates that matched someone in the Devon Drakes, the con artist would reveal (after collecting money for research expenses) that this family was indeed related to Sir Francis and entitled to a share in the estate (which could be secured by a lawsuit that required a monetary contribution from the family). I wonder if that's how descendants of Thomas Drake of Weymouth settled on Thomas Drake of Colyton, rather than any of the dozens of other Thomas Drakes in England.
This is definitely the reason why, if you post a query about any American Drakes on a message board, you will get a response like this one:
We have our family line traced back to Sir Thomas Drake,(1546) brother of Sir Francis Drake.
This has been passed down through family bibles, letters, etc.
I have been researching via the census and have matched up through the 1800's.
...
I don't know if this will help anyone, but here is a thumbnail account of our lineage from Sir Thomas Drake (brother of Sir Frances Drake).
Sir Thomas had a son named Frances who married Joan. They had 5 children - Joseph being the fifth child. Joseph had 2 children, Frances being the first. Frances married Mary and came to America - New Jersey in 1673. They had a son John who married Elizabeth Trotter in Elizabeth Town, NJ on July 7, 1677 ...Following this proposed descent using Vivian's Devonshire Pedigrees, we find that it falls apart rather quickly:
- On page one of Vivian's treatment of the Buckland Drakes, we see that Sir Thomas Drake, brother of the Sir Francis the Navigator, has a son, Sir Francis Drake, Bart of Buckland, who m. (2nd), ca 1626, Joan Strode.
- Then, we see that their son Joseph Drake, "matric. 21 June 1653 at Exeter Coll. Oxford, bur. 12 Oct 1708 at Buckland Monachorum. Will 5 Oct 1708 P.C.C. 12 Oct. 1709 (Lane 5). He m. (1st) 11 Feb 1668 Margaret Crimes."
- Then, their son, Francis was bapt. 24 Apr 1675. He m. 21 Oct 1714, at Woodbury, Sarah Young. He was bur. Sep 1725 at Buckland Monachorum.
So, there is no way that this descent is even plausible as fantasy, since the proposed father of the immigrant Francis Drake marries after the immigrant has already arrived in New England, and the proposed immigrant is recorded as alive and well in England. A Drake family living in America between 1880 and 1935 likely wouldn't have had access to Vivian's Pedigrees or other such sources, and so would likely have accepted the con artist's "findings" and paid up, passing on the newly created "family documents" to their children and grandchildren ...
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