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Drew were the parents of the following
children: I. Edea Jane, born December
4, 1864, died January 9, 1892; she mar-
ried, June I, 1885, Charles Soule Packard,
of Brockton. 2. Emma Frances, born
November 22, 1867, died June 20, 1870. 3.
Annie Mabel, born March 5, 1872; is a
teacher in the Westford and New Bedford
schools ; Miss Drew graduated from
the Westford Academy, and was a stu-
dent at the Leland Stanford University.
4. George Albert, of whom further.
(Ill) George Albert Drew, son of
George and Sarah Jane (Ober) Drew,
was born in Westford, Massachusetts,
March 18, 1876, and was prepared for
college in the Westford Academy. He
received his degree of B. S. from the Mas-
sachusetts Agricultural College in 1897,
and the same year received a similar de-
gree from the Boston University. After
completing his college work, Mr. Drew
was given charge of the college horticul-
tural department and the experimental
and park department work. In addition
he served as instructor in horticulture.
In 1903 he became associated with Mr.
E. C. Converse, who had conceived the
idea of developing a beautiful country
estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. The
present location was selected because it
afforded a combination of water, wood-
land and field. On the estate is a beautiful
body of water covering 175 acres. At
first it was suggested that this lake would
furnish a desirable water supply for the
town of Greenwich. In order to protect
the purity of the water, Mr. Converse began
buying the contributing water-shed.
Gradually the surrounding farms were ac-
quired until the estate grew to 1,600 acres.
At one time 1,000 men were employed in
clearing and consolidating the small fields
and pastures as they had been divided in
the former farms. Work was begun on the
first unit of 450 acres, and the best of the
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
139
stone was used in erecting buildings
which probably have no superiors anywhere
in this country. They are arranged
on a scientific plan, embodying the most
advanced ideas in farm arrangement, and
include besides the usual list of farm
buildings a fine cold storage warehouse.
The refuse stone was used in constructing
roads of which there are fifteen miles on
the estate, well built.
They have a dairy herd of 100 thoroughbred
Guernsey cattle, and a large
poultry department in which White Leg-
horns and Rhode Island Reds are raised.
There are about 2,000 laying fowls, and
about 10,000 chickens are raised in a
season. Each season there are 100 acres
planted in corn, while about fifty acres
are devoted to the small grains, such as
wheat, rye and oats. The general harvest
of hay is about 100 tons. The main in-
dustry on this immense farm, however,
is fruit growing. There are about 400
acres planted in apples, peaches, plums,
pears and small fruit. The biggest pear
orchard in New England, 10,000 trees,
including all the standard varieties, is on
this farm. There are 10,000 apple trees,
12,000 peach trees, and 1,000 plum trees.
An army of 100 men are employed to
carry on this big enterprise, and in some
seasons this number is doubled. The
fruit is marketed in a commercial way
from Stamford to New York City. The
lake above referred to is stocked with fish,
and when the town of Greenwich finds its
water supply running low, water from this
lake is furnished free of charge. The
farm is equipped completely with the
most modern agricultural implements and
machinery, including a tractor.
Besides managing this vast estate, Mr.
Drew has two farms in his native town of
Westford, Massachusetts, where he is developing
apple and pear orchards. There
are about 200 acres altogether, 75 of