Family Stories - John Stephen Drew

John Stephen Drew with wife, Catherine and family

about 1890, after moving to Florida

Standing are daughter Laura and son Anon

The younger girl seated is a niece that they raised.

John Stephen Drew and Catherine about 1916

This is my maternal great grandfather, John Stephen Drew. He grew up near Barwick, Georgia in Brooks County. When the Civil War broke out, he was 15 years old, too young for a regular enlistment, but he insisted on going and was finally accepted in a reserve unit as their water boy. It was a tough four years. When he was 18, he joined the regular army, enlisting in Savannah, Georgia. In early 1865 he was captured near Fayetteville, North Carolina, but was released in a prisoner exchange the next day. A few months later the fighting was over, and he was discharged in Greensboro, North Carolina.

With no money, no horse, and no other means of getting home, John started walking, living on berries and whatever else he could find. Somewhere along the way he met up with his older brother Thomas' and they walked together the rest of the way home, arriving starved, ragged, and dirty. John had walked over 500 miles, most of the way barefooted. Their Mama was happy to see them, but made them bathe in a backyard washtub before letting them in the house and serving them fried chicken.

John helped his father on the farm until he was 26 years old. It was then that he married Catherine Strickland and began to farm on his own. By 1880, they had three children, Laura, Anon, and Madura Osceola. When Anon was born, there apparently was a degree of indecision about what to name him, so they settled on Anon - short for anonymous. Why they named the younger daughter Madura Osceola remains a mystery. Osceola was a Seminole Indian warrior.

In 1890 they decided to move to Florida. John had heard that with the Florida climate, a farmer could raise two, maybe three crops a year. They decided on Pasco County near Dade City where land was cheap. Roads were poor, and there were no bridges over the several rivers they had to cross. They had a horse and wagon, and a cow. The wagon held their belongings, but the family had to walk. They slept under the wagon each night of the three week trip. Osceola caught pneumonia and died shortly after they arrived in Dade City.

After building a house and planting their first crop, John made one trip back to Georgia to gather the rest of their belongings. He continued to farm until Laura and Anon were married and on their own. Then, applying for a pension for his army service, he retired to an apartment in Tampa where he lived until his death in 1919 at the age of 72.