William Winans Drake, Jr. papers

Collection

Identifier: SC-Mss. Coll. 56

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

William Winans Drake, Jr. papers primarily consist of his writings. Also included are a small amount of clippings and correspondence. Much of the material relates to Drake’s activities with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in Louisiana during the twentieth century. His writings largely consist of sermons about biblical verses; other topics include temperance and gambling. Many of Drake’s writings were handwritten on the back of scrap sheets of paper. The reverse side of these papers often consisted of mass-produced typed form letters related to the churches and the organizations he served. The collection also includes materials related to Drake’s time as a student at Centenary College of Louisiana during the 1880s. This includes his writings, diploma, and a certificate for the Franklin Institute, a student literary society.

The collection includes a set of index cards corresponding to Drake’s writings about biblical verses. The cards are organized by books of the Bible. Since these cards contain location codes identifying documents within the Drake collection, the archives has retained the original folder titles and document order. These codes consist of the following: [index card notation = collection box, folder name]. Box 1 = Box 1, Sermons Groups B through M. Box 2 = Box 2 and 3, Writings Groups A through N. Box 1 N.S. = Box 3, Meditations Groups A through G. Box 2 Pack 2 = Box 3, Pack 2. PMN = Box 3, Prayer Meeting Notes.

Dates

1888 - 1933

Creator

Drake, William Winans Jr., 1871-1933 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Physical rights are retained by the Centenary College of Louisiana Archives and Special Collections. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. copyright laws.

Biographical / Historical

William Winans Drake, Jr. (1871-1933) was born at Magnolia Springs near Natchez, Mississippi. He is the son of Rev. William Winans Drake, Sr. and Alice Gorton Drake, and the grandson of Rev. Benjamin M. Drake. Drake graduated from Centenary College of Louisiana in 1888, and he enrolled in Vanderbilt University in 1889. He was licensed to preach in January 1888. In December of 1888, he was admitted on trial in the Mississippi Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His ministerial appointments included Springfield charge of the Woodville District (1888), Bentonia charge of the Jackson District (1889), and Raymond. Drake was ordained deacon in December 1890. In December 1892, he was re-admitted into the traveling connection in the Louisiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He was ordained elder in December 1893. Drake was assigned to congregations at Crowley (1893-1896), Franklin Station (1897-1900), Felicity Street in New Orleans (1901-1904), presiding elder of the Crowley District (1905), Crowley (1906-1908), Lake Charles (1909-1911), First Church in Baton Rouge (1912-1914), Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans (1915), Minden (1916), Noel Memorial in Shreveport (1917-1922), presiding elder of the New Orleans District (1923-1925), Ruston Station (1926-1929), First Church in Monroe (1930-1931), and presiding elder of the Lake Charles District (1932-1933). Drake served as a member and as the president of the Louisiana Conference Board of Education. He also served as trustee of Centenary College of Louisiana and Southern Methodist University. In addition, he served as a member of the Publishing Committee of the New Orleans Christian Advocate. Centenary College of Louisiana awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. Drake married Nora Collier in 1895; their sons were Marlin W. and Walton C. Drake.