The subject of this sketch was born January 18, 1850, son of John Drew, one-half Cherokee and colonel in the Confederate army, who died in 1865. His mother was a sister to the present Judge Scales, of Webber’s Falls, Charlotte Scales. John T. was partly educated at McKenzie College, Texas, and completed his education at Cane Hill Academy, Arkansas. During the war he was a refugee in the Chickasaw Nation, and after its close devoted himself to farming, in the neighborhood of Webber’s Falls, Cherokee Nation. In 1877 Mr. Drew was appointed district attorney, and held the office one year. In 1878 he was clerk of the Senate, and in 1879 was elected attorney general of the nations. In 1884 Mr. Drew was elevated to the honor of supreme judge, and was chief justice on three special occasions. Having served three years on the supreme bench, Judge Drew was appointed secretary of the treasury in 1891. On December 7, 1891, on the appointment of a new mayor for Tahlequah, Mr. Drew was elected town clerk, and is now filling that appointment.
In 1877 Mr. Drew married Miss Mollie McCoy, daughter of James McCoy, by whom he has five children. Mr. Drew is a member of the Nationals, and a man of considerable ability and influence with his party, as will be seen by the number of important positions which he has occupied.