Daniel Drew, the Wall Street financier whose gift made possible the founding of Drew Theological Seminary, was born in Carmel, New York, in 1797. He had limited formal schooling and began his career in the cattle industry. Drew married Roxanna Mead in 1823, and they moved to New York, where Drew pursued many other prosperous business interests, including steamboats, railroads and stocks. Drew, who had converted to Methodism as a teenager, attended St. Paul's Church (formerly the Mulberry Street Church) in New York, where John McClintock came to be pastor in 1857. In the 1860s, Drew decided to finance a theological school with James McClintock as its president. In 1866, Drew pledged $500,000 to found the Drew Theological Seminary. Though nearly half of this endowment was lost when Daniel Drew faced financial ruin in the 1870s, he continued as a trustee until his death in 1879.

Daniel Drew Bibliography

• Adams, Jr., Charles Francis and Henry Adams, Chapters of Erie, Ithaca, New York, Great Seal Books. 1956. 385.2 A211cB
• "Drew, Daniel." The National Cvclopedia of American Biography XI, (1901) p. 502. Ref. 920.073 N277n
• Josephson, Matthew, The Robber Barons; The Great American Capitalists, 1861-1901, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1934 (see index under Drew, Daniel) 920 J83r
• McClintock, John. Daniel Drew, esq. No imprint. Drew University Archives Faculty/Alumni Collection
• Hyers, Gustavus. History of the Great American Fortunes. N.Y., Modern Library, 1937. (see index under Drew, Daniel) 339.2 M996h
• Nevins, Allen. "Daniel Drew." Dictionary of National Biography v.5 (1930) p. 450 Ref 920.073 D554d
• Nevins, Allan. The Emergence of Modern America, 1865-1878... N.Y. Macm. 1928. (see index under Drew, Daniel) 973.8 N527e
• Oberholtzer, Ellis P. A History of the United States Since the Civil War, v II, Macn. 1922. (see index under Drew, Daniel) 973.8 O
• Swanberg, W.A. Jim Fisk: The Career of an Improbable Rascal. N.Y. Scribner, 1959 (see index under Drew, Daniel) 921 F583 S972J
• White, Bouck. The Book of Daniel Drew. N.Y., Doran, 1910 332.092 D776 W582i

Courtesy of the Drew University Archives