Brief Life History of Bessie Olive
When Bessie Olive Drake was born on 26 October 1885, in Illinois, United States, her father, Ira Shelby Drake, was 26 and her mother, Mary Elizabeth Whitehurst, was 27. She married Bertel Benton Loy on 7 August 1908. They were the parents of at least 1 daughter. She lived in Jasper, Illinois, United States in 1935 and Spring Point Township, Cumberland, Illinois, United States in 1940. She died on 18 May 1964, in Effingham, Effingham, Illinois, United States, at the age of 78, and was buried in Fairfield Cemetery, Gila, Jasper, Illinois, United States.
Photos and Memories (0)
Do you know Bessie Olive? Do you have a story about her that you would like to share? Sign In or Create a FREE Account
Family Time Line
Sources (11)
- Bessie Watkins in household of Frank Watkins, "United States Census, 1940"
- Bessie Olive Drake Watkins, "Find A Grave Index"
- Bessie Drake in entry for Mary Loy, "Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947"
Spouse and Children
Parents and Siblings
World Events (8)
1886
Statue of Liberty is dedicated.
1892 · The Chicago Canal
The Chicago River Canal was built as a sewage treatment scheme to help the city's drinking water not to get contaminated. While the Canal was being constructed the Chicago River's flow was reversed so it could be treated before draining back out into Lake Michigan.
1906 · Saving Food Labels
The first of many consumer protection laws which ban foreign and interstate traffic in mislabeled food and drugs. It requires that ingredients be placed on the label.
Name Meaning
English: nickname from Middle English drake, either ‘drake, male duck’ (compare Duck ) or ‘dragon’ (Old English draca ‘snake, dragon’ or the cognate Old Norse draki), including an emblematic dragon on a flag (compare Dragon ). Both the Old English and the Old Norse forms are from Latin draco ‘snake, monster’; its sense as a nickname is unclear but it may have had the sense ‘standard bearer’. The name was taken to Ireland in the 13th century and reinforced by later English settlers in the 17th century.
German: from Low German drake ‘dragon’, familiar as image on signboards, hence a topographic or habitational name referring to a house or inn with such signboard.
Dutch: variant, mostly Americanized and Flemish, of Draak, a cognate of 2 above, from draak (Middle Dutch drake) ‘dragon’.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
Possible Related Names
Discover Even More
As a nonprofit, we offer free help to those looking to learn the details of their family story.