The Soldier, The Minister, and His Silent Neighbors

If you wander through the Historic Columbian Cemetery in North Portland—also known over the years as Love, Columbia, or Columbia Slough Cemetery—you will find along the road side fence a simple veteran’s marker for a man whose life spanned the most transformative eras of American history. The Department of Veterans Affairs often provided free government headstones or markers for eligible deceased veterans. This program provided the loan marker in this section of the cemetery.Located at 1151 N Columbia Blvd, the cemetery is currently under the care of Steelmantown Cemetery Co., who continue the work of preserving this sacred ground.

Marking the Unmarked

Reverend Daniel Drew (1843–1923) rests at Section OS, Block 52, Lot 8 N½. While his headstone stands as a lone testament to his service, the ground around him tells a broader story. Buried alongside him in unmarked graves are four of his family members.

The Drew Family Plot

While Reverend Drew is the only resident with a headstone, records indicate he is surrounded by his loved ones. We can now name those who rest beside him:

I first encountered Daniel Drew’s story while working with the owners of the cemetery for the Harvest Fest Event on October 20, 2018. The team included Drew in a booklet highlighting notable residents, sparking a research journey that led from the cemetery grounds to the archives of the AME Church. As the volunteers at the Genealogical Society complete their indexing and typing of these historic records, one can only hope that eventually people will step up to honor all the Black residents in this section whose names have been lost to the “trace documentation” of time.

A Military Man Seeking Peace

Daniel Drew was a case study in From Whence We’ve Come: The Development of Black Religious Life and Culture in the Pacific Northwest  that I co-presented presented at the Louisville Institute with Pastor Terry McCray of Bethel AME Church.

Pastor McCray and I found many forgotten AME churches on the far west and Daniel Drew’s life and religious journey stood out.  The AME Church is a connectional organization and pastors receive a yearly appointment to a charge (church). Daniel Drew was the only Itinerant AME preacher stirred our hearts.

Born into slavery in Virginia, Drew was laboring in chains in Arkansas when the Union Army arrived. For Drew, freedom was an action; he traveled to St. Louis and enlisted, serving as a private in the 3rd Arkansas Infantry before a reorganization placed him in the 56th Colored Regiment.

His relationship with his military past was a lifelong tug-of-war between his patriotism and his pacifist faith. Though he was nominated as the Head Chaplain of the Oregon Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in 1919, he famously resigned his post in 1904:

“…because he thought the order was against his religion as it fostered a spirit of war.”

Yet, his devotion to his fellow veterans never wavered. In 1902, he was instrumental in raising $3,500 for the soldiers’ memorial at Lone Fir Cemetery, ensuring that those who fought were never forgotten. His efforts to create the soldier’s memorial has misled some scholars to presume that that is the location of his final resting place. Example Oregon Black Pioneers Entry on Daniel Drew.

The First Black Quaker Minister

Drew’s spiritual journey is a “complex and multifaceted” narrative. Educated at the Southland Institute, a Quaker school in Arkansas, Drew was ordained in 1871 as the first known Black minister of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Quaker Jessica Bucciarelli‘s entry on Daniel Drew is a wonderful springboard.

His ordination was the beginning of a small but significant legacy; there had been eleven Black recorded ministers (all male) when the meeting was laid down at the Southland’s closing in 1925. However, being a pioneer came with friction. As noted by The Black Quaker Project:

“Quakerism does not provide the same sense of agency, self empowerment, and kinship offered by Black denominations of Christianity forced conformity. Although Quakers stand amongst history’s most outspoken abolitionists, Friends did not treat African Americans as equals.”

This may explain Drew’s eventual shift. After moving to Portland with his wife, Laura Ann, and their son, William, Drew initially joined the Sunnyside Quaker Meeting. By 1907, he transitioned to the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, becoming a pillar of Bethel AME on 10th and later Larrabee Street.

A Voice for Portland

In Portland, Drew was a “dynamic individual” known for his oratory. In 1902, the Oregon Journal reported he would deliver an address on “The Condition of the Colored Race, Before, During and After the Civil War”. He was a man who had known Lincoln personally and spent his final years in North Portland at 1759 Courtenay Street (pre-1930 address), balancing his spiritual leadership with laboring in local gardens.

Final Words

While only Daniel Drew’s headstone marks the plot today, leaving his family in a silence, his legacy remains loud. We close with his own words from a GAR Chaplain’s report:

“Let us be at our best at all times, supporting and encouraging in every possible way those things that are just and right that we may have the approval of the great judge when we shall be called before him.”