Sonoma County Biography
Mrs. Margaret T. Drago
The estate known as the Drago ranch forms one of the early cultivated places of Sonoma county and comprises four hundred and eighty acres lying in close proximity to Occidental. The house that Mrs. Drago occupies was erected more than sixty years ago and is one of the few remaining landmarks associated with an interesting period of California history. Notwithstanding its great age and long use, the building presents a neatness of appearance and solidity of construction not always to be found in houses of more recent date. It was during October of 1862 that Mrs. Drago began to reside in this historic structure and since then she has witnessed the changes transforming the country from a wild region into a cultivated area. In the early days her table was abundantly provided with venison, bear-meat and other kinds of wild game that frequented the country and among her guests were not a few Indians, for the red men had not yet disappeared before the ambitious sway of the Anglo- Saxon.
Born in County Wexford, Ireland, in 1830, Mrs. Drago was a girl of fourteen years when she left her native land and went to London, England. During 1850 she crossed the ocean to the United States and landed at Boston, from the sailing vessel Grace. Finding employment, she remained in Boston seven years. From that city she removed to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where, August 21, 1859, she became the wife of John Morgan, a native of Ireland, born in 1823, and deceased in Sonoma county December 5, 1867. Four children blessed the union of Mr. And Mrs. Morgan. The eldest, William N., was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and died in Sonoma county, Cal., at seventeen years of age. The second, John L., was born in Sonoma county in 1863 and still resides at his birthplace. The third child, Mary Jane, makes her home in Oakland, Cal. The youngest member of the Morgan family was Nellie W., born in Sonoma county in 1868 and married in 1891 to Robert Lee Adams, a native of this state and a resident of Point Richmond.
After the death of her first husband Mrs. Morgan remained a widow about two years and in 1869 became the wife of Nelson Drago, who was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1832 and died in Sonoma county November 20, 1904. Surviving him are his widow and two sons, Frank and Nelson, Jr. The elder son, Frank, was born January 5, 1871, and grew to manhood at the old homestead, receiving fair advantages of the county schools. During 1901 he was united in marriage with Miss Agnes Mabel Glynn, who was born in San Francisco. Of their union two sons were born, namely: George Francis, who was born in 1902 and died in infancy: and David Patrick, who was born September 5, 1903, and is now a pupil in the local schools. The youngest son of Mrs. Drago and his father's namesake was born March 10, 1872, on the ranch that has been his lifelong home. In the supervision of the large property Mrs. Drago has the assistance of her three sons and maintains improvements of a high character, including a large vineyard, a well-kept fruit orchard and a thrifty garden. Formerly she made a specialty of the dairy business, but of more recent years shw has given attention largely to the pasturage of sheep and the raising of lambs. Life's twilight finds her still busy and active, retaining full possession of her physical and mental faculties and enjoying the companionship of her children and a competency accumulated by years of self-sacrificing effort.
History of Sonoma County, California
History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891
Los Angeles, Ca. 1911
Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood
July 2008
Pages 945-946
Sonoma County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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