DRAKE, Francis Samuel (1828-85). An American author, born at Northwood, N. H., the son of Samuel Gardner Drake. His most important work is his Dictionary of American Biographies (1872), containing 10,000 biographies, nearly all prepared by himself. He also published Life of General Henry Knox (1873), The Town of Roxbury (1878), and Indian History for Young Folks (1884); and contributed to Winsor's Memorial History of Boston (1880-82).