In recognition of the Semiquincentennial of America’s Independence on July 4, 2026, the Thomas Rodney Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution continues its yearlong celebration to honor our patriot ancestors. During the weeks and months leading to America’s 250th Birthday, chapter members are spotlighting the service of our Revolutionary War Ancestors. This week, we honor the service of James Drane, Revolutionary Ancestor of chapter members Beth Brannon Powell, Ginger Powell Perry, and Erin Powell Stovall.
James Drane, a medical doctor, resided in Prince Georges County, Maryland, during the American Revolution where he performed many acts of civil service and patriotic service. His civil service included serving as a Coroner, Grand Juror, and on a Committee of Inspection. James’ patriotic service was displayed in his signing of an Oath of Fidelity. The Oath of Fidelity and Support was an oath swearing allegiance to the state of Maryland and denying allegiance and obedience to Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War and in the early days of American Independence. As enacted by the Maryland General Assembly in 1777, all persons holding any office of profit or trust were required to take the oath no later than March 1, 1778.
The appointment of James Drane as Coroner in Prince Georges County, Maryland, is recorded in the Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, January 1-March 20, 1777, Archives of Maryland, Volume 16. John Thomas Scharf’s History of Maryland from the earliest period to the present day contains documentation of Drane’s service on a Committee of Inspection in Prince Georges County, Maryland. The focus of The Committee of Inspection was initially to enforce the Non-importation Agreements, which aimed to hinder the import of British manufactured goods. However, as the revolutionary crisis continued, the committees took on greater powers, filling the vacuum left by the colonial governments; collecting taxes and recruiting soldiers, believing that they derived their authority from the Continental Congress. Additional documentation of his service to the cause of American Independence can be found in the Maryland records, colonial, revolutionary, county and church: from original sources, volume II, by Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh, and Revolutionary Records of Maryland by Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh and Margaret Roberts Hodges (1924), Washington: Printed by Rufus H. Darby Printing Company.
James was born in 1720 in Prince Georges County, Maryland. Circa 1743, he married Elizabeth Smith Pyles in Prince Georges County, Maryland. James died in September 1787, in Prince Georges County, Maryland, and Elizabeth died there probably on November 8, 1787.
