Mount Union Stories: Mary Jane Drake (1823-1925)

Published as it appeared on Jan. 28, 1925, in the Corvallis Gazette-Times, Page 1, Column 6.

AGED WOMAN DIES
———
Mrs. Mary Jane Drake, Aged
101 Years, to Be Buried Here
Friday Afternoon
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Mrs. Mary Jane Drake, a negro, died Monday at a home for the aged at 472 Sellwood Avenue, Portland, The Portland Telegram gives her age as 101 years, 1 month and 27 days.

Stricken by paralysis, Mrs. Drake had been helpless many years, although her mind was clear at times till the end.

Mrs. Drake came to Benton county in 1857. She was the wife of Reuben Shipley, who owned a farm west of Corvallis. Here they brought up six children, all of whom are now dead except Edward.

Reuben Shipley died in 1873, and the widow became the wife of Mr. Drake, who also died.

In Benton county, Mrs. Drake was a member of the United Brethren church, but when she came to Portland 32 years ago she affiliated with the African Methodist church.

The remains will be brought to Corvallis Thursday evening and be taken to the Bovee undertaking parlors. At 2 p.m. Friday there will be a short funeral service at the morgue chapel. The interment will take place at the Newton cemetery, which was once a part of the old Reuben Shipley farm.

Published as it appeared on Jan. 31, 1925, in the Corvallis Gazette-Times, Page 3, Column 3.

FUNERAL IS SIMPLE
———
Mrs. Mary Drake, 101 Year Old
Negress, Laid Away
Quietly
———

Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus,

Steal away, steal away home,

I ain’t got long to stay here.

The haunting negro melody, so poignantly sweet, swelled through the undertaking parlors yesterday afternoon as George Sutton sang the words at the funeral of the late Mrs. Mary Jane Drake, negress. Touching and beautiful in their tonal expression, the words were a fitting part of the impressive service over the remains of Mrs. Drake. The group present numbered possibly 30, but business people left their counters, college men their offices and business men their profession to honor Mrs. Drake, an historic character of Benton county’s pioneer days. “Speak to My Soul, Dar Jesus,” sung by Mr. and Mrs. Sutton, and “Saved by Grace,” by Mrs. Frank Ryland, with Mrs. C.B. Mitchell at the piano, were other musical numbers of the beautiful services.

Rev. Daniel Bryant was in charge of the service. “I consider it an honor to preside at the obsequies of this wonderful character,” said Rev. Bryant in his brief talk of the afternoon. He read of the promise of an eternal home, spoke words of assurance to the son so recently bereft of a mother, and gave assurance that the life here is but the beginning of a wonderful life to come.

That life had been full of hardships, suffering, trials of the pioneer days when her first husband was a negro slave was not apparent yesterday. That life had overcome and conquered was written deep in the dark face.

The beautiful casket in a deep tan velvet bore a name plate in heavy oxidized silver inscribed “Mary Jane Drake, 1823-1925,” and had been placed there by the son, Edward. Rare laces draped the interior in which Mrs. Drake rested. Hers was a face that attracted attention at once from the friends who gathered to pay her tribute, a face calm and tranquil in death, with no visible marks of age. Her hair was snow white and curied in ringlets about the sweet face. The gown of gray silk was completed with lace of an ecru shade that harmonized with the drapes of her resting place. Pink rosebuds lay over the still heart.

The story of Mrs. Drake’s life read by Rev. Bryant, as it was written by her son, follows:

In the city of Portland on January 26, Mary Jane Drake passes away at 12:12 o’clock Monday morning at 472 Sellwood building, the home of her old age, where she was tenderly cared for by her only surviving son, Edward, a child of her first husband, Reuben Edward Shipley.

Mary Jane Drake’s maiden name was Mary Jane Holmes. She was born in Pike county, Mo., November 29, 1823. She and her parents and two sisters crossed the plains by ox team with Captain Taylor in June of 1844 and settled in Polk county where they remained a number of years. There Mary Jane met her first husband, Reuben Edward Shipley, and was married. The couple moved to Benton county in 1857. Seven children were born to them, six of them having passed away. Edward Shipley is the sole survivor of the family and resides in Portland — having been employed with the Southern Pacific railroad in the store department the last 31 years.

Mrs. and Mrs. Shipley joined the United Brethren church west of Corvallis in 1857. In the year 1873, Mr. Shipley died, leaving a young widow with seven small children. Four years later the widow married Robert J. Drake. Mr. Drake, the second husband, died five years later, and Mrs. Shipley was again a widow with four step-children, sons and daughters of Mr. Drake, by a former marriage. In the year 1878 the widow and her family moved to Salem and the family remained there until 1887 when they went to Newport. After 14 years at that place, Mrs. Drake went to live in Portland and for 32 years had been cared for by her son, Edward.

In 1923 Mrs. Drake was stricken with paralysis which left her helpless. At times her mind was clear and particularly so at the end. Her parting words were “Goodbye, goodbye, my dear son, do not weep. Tomorrow I meet in Paradise.”

The body was laid to rest in Newton cemetery, beside the grave of Mr. Shipley who gave the plot of ground for the purpose in 1856. Sheriff E.J. Newton, Prof. J.B. Horner, George W. Cooper, Elmer Bethers and Alex Watters carried the remains to the last resting place. Conspicuous on the new mound was a magnificent piece sent by the Southern Pacific co-workers with the son, Edward Shipley.