Household #90: Drew, William

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In the 1900 Barney census, William Drew headed a 4-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

William Drew headed a 4-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner and 2 children.

William Drew's listed occupation was Lats Man Saw Mill.

Reported birthplaces span Florida and Georgia, pointing to movement into Barney or family formation across county or state lines.

Newspaper and Public-Record Trail

This section flags public-record leads separate from the census table. The detailed discussion stays in the family narrative, research status, and source citations below.

1900 Census Household

Children and Later Trails

This section is reserved for later-life child evidence. No later spouse, death, burial, obituary, probate, separate household, or descendant-line identification has been added here yet from direct records.

Family Narrative

William Milton Drew can be placed securely in the 1900 Barney household and then followed through the 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses in Hillsborough County, Florida. Those later records, together with the 1927 death notice for Emma Drew and the 1931 obituary for William Drew, establish a solid later-life profile for the family. The earlier record trail is also strong, though not every point is equally direct. The 1880 Brooks County census firmly places William in the household of William and Missouri Drew, and the 1880 Orange County, Florida, census firmly places Emma in the household of C. H. J. Rogers. A probable 1870 Madison County, Florida, Drew household provides an earlier bridge for William's family, but the state-of-birth details across the census trail are not consistent enough to treat every early detail as settled.

The 1880 Brooks County census is the clearest early anchor for William. There he appears as "William M. Drew," age 19, in the household of William Drew and Missouri Drew, with siblings M. L., Media, Jeremiah, Malachai, Rebecca, and Joseph. That record supports the parentage claim used here, though the family's exact interstate movements between Brooks County and north Florida still need cautious handling. A William M. Drew also appears in Lowndes County property-tax digests in the Hahira-area Folsom district during the 1880s. That tax material is a plausible regional bridge between the 1880 Brooks County household and the later Barney household, but the digest entry alone does not absolutely prove identity.

Emma's side is better anchored in Florida than in Brooks County. In 1880, fourteen-year-old Emma Rogers appears in Orange County, Florida, in the household of C. H. J. Rogers with siblings including William, Wilson, Susan, and M. D. Rogers. A likely 1870 census placement for the same family adds earlier support for the line, but the exact expansion of the father's initials and the full parental reconstruction still benefit from caution. The later newspaper evidence is especially useful here. A 7 June 1908 Tampa Tribune item reports that "Mrs. Emma Drew, of Pavo, Ga.," had come to visit her brother "M. D. Rogers" in the Gary/Tampa area. That brief notice strongly supports Emma's continuing tie to the Orange County and Tampa-area Rogers family.

The marriage of William and Emma was probably about 1894 or 1895, based on the 1900 census and the age of their oldest known child, but the direct marriage record has not yet been located. By 1900 they were in Barney, where William worked as a lath man at a saw mill and the household contained Claudie Emma Drew, age five, born in Florida, and Rogers Drew, age two, born in Georgia. That combination suggests a family transition from Florida into south Georgia during the later 1890s. The 1910 census in Hillsborough County, Florida, shows the family after their return to Florida. William was then working in lumber-mill employment, Emma reported that she had borne five children with four still living, and the household included Claudie, Rogers, Mamie, Leroy, and Emma's widowed mother Clarice J. Rogers. The 1920 census in Hillsborough County continues the same family with William, Emma, Mamie, and Leroy still together.

The child lines are not equally complete, but several are now directly supported beyond the census trail. Mamie L. Drew is firmly tied to William and Emma by a Tampa Tribune wedding announcement of 22 February 1921, which states that she was the daughter of "Mr. and Mrs. William Drew" and reports her marriage to Ward H. Wadsworth. That notice also places William and Emma on Crawford Street near Sulphur Springs and states that the reception was held at the home of "Mr. and Mrs. Roger Drew," giving useful evidence that Rogers Drew had reached adulthood and remained in the same local family network. Claudie Emma Drew's later life is less fully documented in the present record set, but the memorial and survivor material strongly suggest that she was the daughter later represented in derivative records as Mrs. A. B. Paul. Leroy Drew is securely part of the later household through the 1910 and 1920 censuses and through survivor lists in later derivative material, though a fuller direct endpoint chain for him would still be useful.

Emma's death endpoint is now well supported by direct newspaper evidence. The Tampa Tribune of 6 March 1927 reports funeral services for "Mrs. Emma Drew," gives her residence at Pamie and Waters avenues in Tampa, identifies Dr. W. P. Head as the officiant, and states that she was buried in Myrtle Hill Cemetery. The printed age in the notice is not fully reliable in the OCR copy, and derivative memorial material introduces additional age variation, so her exact birth year should still be treated cautiously. Even so, the notice gives a solid death-and-burial anchor. William's death endpoint is similarly well supported. The Tampa Tribune of 6 January 1931 reports funeral services for "William M. Drew, 69, of 3101 Cord avenue," states that he died Sunday at a hospital, identifies Dr. W. P. Head as the officiant, and reports burial in Myrtle Hill Cemetery. A Hillsborough County death-index entry for William M. Drew in 1931 supports the same endpoint profile, and the 1930 census places him in Hillsborough County as a widower shortly before his death.

The Rogers or Rodgers surname appears elsewhere in the Barney census, including Households #99 and #100, but no direct documented kinship has yet been established between Emma E. Rogers Drew and those households. The shared surname and proximity suggest only a possible broader community or family connection. That possibility should remain outside any proved "Connections" claim unless probate, land, marriage, or other direct records establish a specific bridge.

Open Research Questions

• Parentage audit: Keep head-of-household and spouse parentage as unresolved unless a cited direct record names the parents or the entry explains the census chain supporting the identification.
• Child census audit: Continue direct-record tracking for each child named in the 1900 household where later census, marriage, death, burial, obituary, or other parent-link proof is not already cited above.
• William and Emma's direct marriage record has not yet been located.
• William's birthplace is not fully settled. The census trail points both to Georgia and to Florida, though Georgia is somewhat better supported overall.
• The 1870 Madison County, Florida, Drew household is a strong probable bridge for William's family, but it should still be treated as probable rather than final.
• The exact expansion of Emma's father's initials in the 1880 Orange County household still needs careful confirmation from additional direct records.
• Claudie's later identity and the fuller endpoint chains for Rogers and Leroy would benefit from additional direct records.
• No direct documented kinship has yet been established between Emma's branch and the other Rogers or Rodgers households in the Barney census.

Research Status

Source-Exhausted in practical terms. The household is now grounded by a strong census chain, a solid Florida return trail, direct newspaper support for Emma's sibling tie to M. D. Rogers, direct newspaper support for Mamie Drew's marriage, and direct newspaper death-endpoint evidence for both Emma and William. Remaining gaps are narrower follow-up items rather than major evidentiary problems: the marriage record, the death certificates, fuller control of William's birthplace, and fuller endpoint records for some of the children.

Sources

• 1880 U.S. census, Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, household of William Drew, including William M. Drew, age 19.
• 1900 U.S. census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of William Milton Drew and Emma E. Drew.
• 1910 U.S. census, Hillsborough County, Florida, household of William and Emma Drew, including children Claudie, Rogers, Mamie, and Leroy, and Emma's widowed mother Clarice J. Rogers.
• 1920 U.S. census, Hillsborough County, Florida, household of William and Emma Drew with Mamie and Leroy.
• 1930 U.S. census, Hillsborough County, Florida, household of William M. Drew as a widower.
• 1880 U.S. census, Orange County, Florida, household of C. H. J. Rogers, including Emma Rogers.
• Probable 1870 U.S. census placement for William Drew's family in Madison County, Florida; used cautiously as a bridge record.
• Georgia, U.S., Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892, entries for William M. Drew in the Hahira-area Folsom district of Lowndes County during the 1880s; used as probable regional bridge evidence.
• Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida), 7 June 1908, page 14, "Gary News Notes," reporting that "Mrs. Emma Drew, of Pavo, Ga.," was visiting her brother "M. D. Rogers" in the Gary/Tampa area.
• Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida), 22 February 1921, page 8, "Wadsworth-Drew," wedding announcement for Mamie L. Drew and Ward H. Wadsworth, naming Mamie as daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Drew and noting a reception at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Drew.
• Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida), 6 March 1927, page 14, death notice for Mrs. Emma Drew, giving Tampa residence, funeral details, officiant, and burial at Myrtle Hill Cemetery.
• Hillsborough County, Florida, death-index entry for William M. Drew, 1931.
• Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida), 6 January 1931, page 2, obituary for William M. Drew, giving residence, hospital death, officiant, and burial at Myrtle Hill Cemetery.
• Find a Grave memorial #8576341 for William M. Drew, Myrtle Hill Memorial Park, Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida; used as derivative burial and survivor-clue evidence.
• Find a Grave memorial #8576344 for Emma E. Rogers Drew, Myrtle Hill Memorial Park, Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida; used as derivative burial and survivor-clue evidence.

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