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Drew was a son of Newitt (or Newett) Drew and Sarah A. Sally Maxwell Drew,  natives of Southampton County, [[[Virginia]], who later moved to[Wilson County, [[Tennessee]]], and then northwestern Louisiana. Richard Maxwell Drew was born in his father's Overton community on [[Dorcheat Bayou]] near [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]], the [[county seat|seat of government]] of Webster Parish. The community was subsequently obliterated by [[yellow fever]]. Drew's brother, Thomas Stevenson Drew (1802-1879), who was twenty years his senior, became the [[governor]] of [[Arkansas]] in 1844.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theus50.com/arkansas/governors.php|title=State of Arkansas Governors|publisher=theus50.com|accessdate=June 11, 2011}}</ref><ref name=arkenc>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=100|title=Thomas Stevenson Drew|publisher=''Encyclopedia of Arkansas''|accessdate=June 11, 2011}}</ref><ref>Other sources list Thomas Drew as the third Arkansas governor because Drew's predecessor, [[Samuel Adams (governor)|Samuel Adams]], was not "governor" but the "acting governor" from April 29 to November 5, 1844, through Adams' previous role as president of the Arkansas State Senate.</ref> Thomas S. Drew was the namesake of Drew County, [[Arkansas]].<ref name=arkenc/><ref name=rmdrew>{{cite web|url= http://www.mindenmemories.org/Drew%20Family.htm|title=Richard Drew Carey (1934-2013), The Drew Family of Minden, Louisiana|publisher=mindenmemories.org|accessdate=June 5, 2011; material no longer accessible on-line}}</ref><ref>Mindenmemories.org and Mindenmemories.net were a combined large social, cultural, and historical website operated from Bellaire, [[Texas]], by Sherry Gresham Gritzbaugh, a 1955 graduate of [[Minden (Louisiana) High School|Minden High School]]. The website had historical articles on the major families involved in the settlement of Minden and Webster Parish, Louisiana.</ref>

Drew was a son of Newitt (or Newett) Drew and Sarah A. Sally Maxwell Drew,  natives of Southampton County, [[[Virginia]], who later moved to[Wilson County, [[Tennessee]]], and then northwestern Louisiana. Richard Maxwell Drew was born in his father's Overton community on [[Dorcheat Bayou]] near [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]], the [[county seat|seat of government]] of Webster Parish. The community was subsequently obliterated by [[yellow fever]]. Drew's brother, Thomas Stevenson Drew (1802-1879), who was twenty years his senior, became the [[governor]] of [[Arkansas]] in 1844.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theus50.com/arkansas/governors.php|title=State of Arkansas Governors|publisher=theus50.com|accessdate=June 11, 2011}}</ref><ref name=arkenc>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=100|title=Thomas Stevenson Drew|publisher=''Encyclopedia of Arkansas''|accessdate=June 11, 2011}}</ref><ref>Other sources list Thomas Drew as the third Arkansas governor because Drew's predecessor, [[Samuel Adams (governor)|Samuel Adams]], was not "governor" but the "acting governor" from April 29 to November 5, 1844, through Adams' previous role as president of the Arkansas State Senate.</ref> Thomas S. Drew was the namesake of Drew County, [[Arkansas]].<ref name=arkenc/><ref name=rmdrew>{{cite web|url= http://www.mindenmemories.org/Drew%20Family.htm|title=Richard Drew Carey (1934-2013), The Drew Family of Minden, Louisiana|publisher=mindenmemories.org|accessdate=June 5, 2011; material no longer accessible on-line}}</ref><ref>Mindenmemories.org and Mindenmemories.net were a combined large social, cultural, and historical website operated from Bellaire, [[Texas]], by Sherry Gresham Gritzbaugh, a 1955 graduate of [[Minden (Louisiana) High School|Minden High School]]. The website had historical articles on the major families involved in the settlement of Minden and Webster Parish, Louisiana.</ref>

In 1846, R. M. Drew married the former Sarah Jessie Cleveland. At seventeen, he was already practicing law. At twenty-three in 1845, he was a district judge in Claiborne Parish (prior to the establishment of Webster Parish),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://randolphcomuseum.org/Downloads/Drew%20Bio.pdf|title=The Bettis Family and the Settlement of Pocohontas, Arkansas|publisher=randolphcomuseum.org|accessdate=June 11, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.angelfire.com/ok/PeggyAGivens/DrewFamily.html|title=Drew Family of Virginia|publisher=angelfire.com|accessdate=June 11, 2011}}</ref> and a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1845.<ref name=rmdrew/> For the last two years of his short life, Drew was a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] member of the Louisiana House of Representatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://house.louisiana.gov/H_PDFdocs/HouseMembership_History_CURRENT.pdftitle=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2024|publisher=Louisiana House of Representatives|accessdate=August 4, 2020}}</ref><ref>The state of Louisiana erroneoulsy lists Representative R. M. Drew as "R. C. Drew," the initials of his son, who did not serve in the state House.</ref>

In 1846, R. M. Drew married the former Sarah Jessie Cleveland. At seventeen, he was already practicing law. At twenty-three in 1845, he was a district judge in Claiborne Parish (prior to the establishment of Webster Parish),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://randolphcomuseum.org/Downloads/Drew%20Bio.pdf|title=The Bettis Family and the Settlement of Pocohontas, Arkansas|publisher=randolphcomuseum.org|accessdate=June 11, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.angelfire.com/ok/PeggyAGivens/DrewFamily.html|title=Drew Family of Virginia|publisher=angelfire.com|accessdate=June 11, 2011}}</ref> and a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1845.<ref name=rmdrew/> For the last two years of his short life, Drew was a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] member of the Louisiana House of Representatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://house.louisiana.gov/H_PDFdocs/HouseMembership_History_CURRENT.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2024|publisher=Louisiana House of Representatives|accessdate=August 4, 2020}}</ref><ref>The state of Louisiana erroneoulsy lists Representative R. M. Drew as "R. C. Drew," the initials of his son, who did not serve in the state House.</ref>

Drew died fifteen days before his 28th birthday. His son, [[Richard Cleveland Drew]], and grandson, [[Harmon Caldwell Drew]], were subsequently judges of both the Webster Parish district court.  <ref>List of Webster Parish District Judges, ''Webster Parish Centennial Booklet, 1971", Webster Parish Police Jury publication</ref>  and the state circuit court, the only father-son combination thus far on the latter court.<ref name=famtree>{{cite web|url=http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/a/r/Richard-D-Carey/GENE1-0004.html|title=Descendants of William Caldwell|publisher=familytreemaker.genealolgy.com|accessdate=June 5, 2011}}</ref>  Judge R. C. Drew married Katie Roberta Caldwell, daughter of Thomas Stevenson Caldwell. R. M. Drew's great-grandson, [[R. Harmon Drew, Sr.]], was a municipal judge and a state representative. His great-great-grandson, [[Harmon Drew, Jr.]], serves on the same circuit court as did his grandfather and great-grandfather.<ref name=famtree/>

Drew died fifteen days before his 28th birthday. His son, [[Richard Cleveland Drew]], and grandson, [[Harmon Caldwell Drew]], were subsequently judges of both the Webster Parish district court.  <ref>List of Webster Parish District Judges, ''Webster Parish Centennial Booklet, 1971", Webster Parish Police Jury publication</ref>  and the state circuit court, the only father-son combination thus far on the latter court.<ref name=famtree>{{cite web|url=http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/a/r/Richard-D-Carey/GENE1-0004.html|title=Descendants of William Caldwell|publisher=familytreemaker.genealolgy.com|accessdate=June 5, 2011}}</ref>  Judge R. C. Drew married Katie Roberta Caldwell, daughter of Thomas Stevenson Caldwell. R. M. Drew's great-grandson, [[R. Harmon Drew, Sr.]], was a municipal judge and a state representative. His great-great-grandson, [[Harmon Drew, Jr.]], serves on the same circuit court as did his grandfather and great-grandfather.<ref name=famtree/>

Drew is interred at the abandoned Overton Cemetery off Interstate 20. The epitaph on his tombstone, which was damaged several years ago by a bulldozer  doing clearing work for the new I-20, reads: "His public and private virtues have survived his death and will endure when this dumb marble shall have faded."<ref>Inscription on R. M. Drew tombstone, Overton Cemetery, Webster Parish, Louisiana</ref><ref name=minmem>{{cite web|url=http://www.mindenmemories.org/Overton.htm|

Drew is interred at the abandoned Overton Cemetery off Interstate 20. The epitaph on his tombstone, which was damaged several years ago by a bulldozer  doing clearing work for the new I-20, reads: "His public and private virtues have survived his death and will endure when this dumb marble shall have faded."<ref>Inscription on R. M. Drew tombstone, Overton Cemetery, Webster Parish, Louisiana</ref><ref name=minmem>{{cite web|url=http://www.mindenmemories.org/Overton.htm|

title=Overton|publisher=mindenmemories.org|accessdate=June 5, 2011; material no longer on-line}}</ref>In 2011, a [[cenotaph]] honoring Drew was erected at the Minden Cemetery.

title=Overton|publisher=mindenmemories.org|accessdate=June 5, 2011; material no longer on-line}}</ref>In 2011, a cenotaph] honoring Drew was erected at the Minden Cemetery.

==References==

==References==