San
Joaquin County
Biographies
EDWARD M. DRAIS
Among the notables of early San
Joaquin history who have passed to their reward and after lives of
conscientious, upright living and successful endeavor in material affairs have
been called to the next higher realm of existence, is Edward M. Drais. Mr. Drais was a representative of the best class
of men of the early fifties who streamed into the Golden State and sought
fortune and home on the sunny western slope of the continent. When he died on April 6, 1918, the county
lost one of its best citizens, a man of great individual worth and excellence,
who had performed the tasks allotted to his years with credit, and who left
behind him a family who, themselves an honor to his name, will cherish his
memory and works till the peaceful end of their own human lives. He was born back in the old state of
Missouri, in Platte County, February 17, 1842.
His father, Madison J. Drais, a native of Virginia, during early manhood
moved with his parents from Virginia to Illinois. He was employed in the butcher trade for a
time at Chillicothe, Illinois, whence he subsequently moved to Platte County,
Missouri, where he was married. In 1852,
with his family, he emigrated across the plains, by way of Salt Lake, to
California, and came directly to San Joaquin County, settling at the present
site of Farmington. He was thus among
the very earliest settlers of that region, and for many years was a well-known
citizen and prominent rancher of the locality.
At his death on October 26, 1896, San Joaquin County lost a worthy
pioneer citizen, one who had passed a life of most successful effort and gained
for himself the lasting regard of those around him. He was a Democrat, and was identified with
the Masonic order.
Edward M. Drais was ten years old
when the family migration took place from Missouri. He was able to perform a good share of the
labor of that journey, and he often recalled the events connected therewith
perhaps more vividly than any subsequent scenes of his life. They drove ox-teams, and from the time they
left St. Joseph, Missouri, until Stockton, California, was reached, they were
three months and fifteen days on the road.
From the time he arrived in this state until he had attained to man’s
estate he lived at Farmington. He was
equipped with a fair common school education, and from his earliest years he
was identified with agricultural pursuits and stockraising. In 1864 he settled on a ranch in Stanislaus
County, where he resided for more than half a century. He had a fine, commodious residence on his
ranch, and the bloom of prosperity was upon his career for many years and in
all departments of his work. For a
number of years Mr. Drais served as a trustee of the Home Union School District
in his neighborhood, and his interest in education was promoted by his regard
for the welfare of his own children as well as by the public-spirited interest
which he felt for the community in general.
While he was not identified with any particular church denomination, he
lent his aid and approval in a generous manner to all public institutions and
causes for the good and advancement of his community.
On August 11, 1864, Mr. Drais
married Miss Rosa Gann, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of John and Eliza
Gann, both natives of Tennessee. Mrs.
Drais was brought, in 1859, by her parents from Buchanan County, Missouri, to
San Joaquin County, California, the trip being made across the plains in
emigrant fashion. Mrs. Drais passed away
on December 31, 1906, and on April 6, 1918, Mr. Drais died. They were the parents of seven children, four
sons and three daughters, all of whom survive them. These are:
Birdinia N., wife of R. C. Gruell,
farmer at Peters, California; George E., executor of the Drais estate; Walter,
who assists in running the home farm; Minnie P., wife of W. D. Mobley of
Farmington, represented in this volume; Henry H., a farmer in the Farmington
district, married Annie Alders, and now resides at Hotel Phelan in Stockton;
Elizabeth E., widow of Louis Stuart, son of J. D. Stuart, well-known farmer in
the Eugene section; and Madison James, who helps to operate the Drais home
place.
George E. Drais was appointed
executor of his father’s vast estate; and he and his brothers, Walter and
Madison, in partnership, have successfully conducted the large Rock Creek Farm
for two years. All are men of fine
character and sterling worth, and are worthy sons of a worthy father.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
935. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases