Background
Sofia Drake was born to colonel Johan Christersson Drake of Torp and Hamra and Margareta Klingspor.
Sofia Drake was born to colonel Johan Christersson Drake of Torp and Hamra and Margareta Klingspor.
She is known for her correspondence with her spouse, lieutenant colonel Jon Stålhammar during his absence in the Great Northern War, and as the Frun på Salshult (The lady of Salshult) in the 1886 poem of Carl Snoilsky by the same name. As was the custom in Sweden until the late 18th-century, she kept her birth name after marriage. Their families both belonged to the lesser nobility, but were well official
In 1700, her spouse was called away to serve in the Great Northern War: except for a brief meeting in 1702, they were never to see each other again.
Their correspondence are famous in Swedish history. On one occasion, her spouse assures her that he is faithful, apparently after she had expressed concern for lieutenant
She is described as a respected, forceful and effective business person, who did not only managed the estate successfully, but also expanded lieutenant Drake arranged for Stålhammar to be sent to her son"s widowed mother-in-law in Värmland, adjust to wearing women"s clothes and then apply for leniency.
Drake made a "powerful intervention" on her behalf, which is estimated to have contributed to her light sentence in 1729, after which Drake gave Maria Lönman, the wife of Stålhammar, employment as a housekeeper at Salshult, and Ulrika Eleonora herself sent back to Värmland.
Her eldest son and heir Otto Fredrik Stålhammar settled with his family at Salshult in 1732, by which time she would have renounced the management of the estate to him.