The papers of Winbourne Magruder Drake include business and personal correspondence from 1901 through 1966; legal records concerning insurance, mineral rights, and land holdings; letter books; diaries; financial records; cattle books; memoranda; photographs; postcards; programs; social papers; certificates; pamphlets and printed materials, including some from the United States government concerning coast and geodetic surveys and cotton production; and blueprints and maps. There is documentation of Drake's personal interests as well as his business ones: a historical sketch by Drake of Leonard Covington; a copy of a thesis on the plantation, Mount Ararat; a list of papers loaned him by Amanda Phipps; articles by Samuel B. Pettingill; and materials on the Natchez Block and Bridle Club. The collection also includes material concerning the Mississippi Democratic Convention in 1956. A number of records in the collection relate to the board of trustees of Jefferson Military College: Drake's statement of resignation as board president; minutes; reports of the board, president, and superintendant; consolidated trial balance sheets; and an incomplete list of trustees through 1952.

Cite as: Z/1360.000: Drake (Winbourne Magruder) Papers.

Winbourne Magruder Drake, the son of James Perry Drake and Clara Bell Drake, was born at Magnolia Springs, Jefferson County, on October 25, 1874. He graduated from Centenary College at a young age and became active in the cotton business. He served as secretary of the Mississippi Compress Association and later served as secretary of the Southern Cotton Shippers Association. He was a member of the Memphis, Tennessee, Cotton Exchange and a member of the New York Cotton Exchange, retiring in 1927. Since that time, he was a cattleman, farmer and tree farmer, and one of the earliest promoters in the state of Aberdeen Angus cattle. In 1950, he became president of the Board of Trustees of Jefferson Military College, where he served in this capacity until 1956.