Benjamin Michael Drake (1800–1860) was born in North Carolina and later became a prominent Methodist minister in Mississippi. By 1824, he was riding the circuit in the Natchez and Washington area. In 1828, Dr. Drake was president of Elizabeth Female Academy, and in 1839 he founded Centenary College, then located at Brandon. Centenary College was moved to Jackson, Louisiana, in 1845 and eight years later Drake was named its president. Dr. Drake married Susan Priscilla Hawkins Magruder, daughter of Captain James T. Magruder, Mt. Ararat Plantation, Jefferson County.

The correspondence is divided into two parts. One part is Xerox copies of original letters, n.d.; 1805–1914. The second part contains original letters, n.d.; 1807–1898. The copies and originals are not the same. There are original letters to and from Dr. Drake and his family, including correspondence of James T. Magruder and his wife. The following letters are also included: F. L. Claiborne, n.d.; F. Deans, November 15, 1848, and November 18, 1854; Robert Fairley, Mississippi Colonization Society, April 30, 1847; Charles Kimball Marshall, n.d., July 29, 1846; Gloster Simpson, Monrovia, Liberia, January 23, 1845; and many other prominent religious leaders of the time. An interesting but incomplete letter dated July 15, 1858, describes early Methodism in the Mississippi Territory. A sketch of the life of Mary Gwin is in the miscellaneous papers (ff. 81). The Drake family financial papers, 1817–1898, are included; along with a lecture Dr. Drake gave at Jefferson College in 1830; one folder of miscellaneous papers and four folders of empty envelopes. Papers, correspondence and annual reports, 1824–1832, of the Mississippi Conference Society, Auxiliary to the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church are in this collection, and also Dr. Drake's treasurer's account book, 1836–1843. Ff. 86–96 contain Xerox copies of "Abstracts of correspondence and other literary remains of Dr. B. M. Drake, together with Sunday notes and comments," 1822–1860.

Several printed items were removed to the Library, and seventeen letters of Elijah Steele, 1835–1841, were also removed to be processed separately.