Poet. A gifted poet, many of his works praised the Bronx. In 1813, he began the study of medicine with several local doctors. The same year he befriended poet Fitz-Greene Halleck and collaborated to write "The Croaker Papers", a series of lampooning poems, published by the New York Post, directed at local officials. He is best known as the celebrated author of "The Culprit Fay" and "The American Flag". When he died of tuberculosis, he was laid to rest in the Hunt family burial ground near The Grange, a childhood haven of Drake. In 1909 the ground was acquired by the Parks Department and in 1915, the Brooklyn Society of Arts and Science erected a 7-foot marble obelisk to his memory, and had the obituary Halleck wrote engraved on it: "Green be the turf above thee; Friend of my better days; None knew thee but to love thee; Nor named thee but to praise."
Poet. A gifted poet, many of his works praised the Bronx. In 1813, he began the study of medicine with several local doctors. The same year he befriended poet Fitz-Greene Halleck and collaborated to write "The Croaker Papers", a series of lampooning poems, published by the New York Post, directed at local officials. He is best known as the celebrated author of "The Culprit Fay" and "The American Flag". When he died of tuberculosis, he was laid to rest in the Hunt family burial ground near The Grange, a childhood haven of Drake. In 1909 the ground was acquired by the Parks Department and in 1915, the Brooklyn Society of Arts and Science erected a 7-foot marble obelisk to his memory, and had the obituary Halleck wrote engraved on it: "Green be the turf above thee; Friend of my better days; None knew thee but to love thee; Nor named thee but to praise."
Bio by: Mark Maxwell
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