David Drake is thought to have been born the first half of the year 1800 on a plantation in South Carolina, owned by the Drake family. The first legal record of Drake is a description from June 13, 1818, that describes "a boy about 17 years old country born" who was "mortgaged to Eldrid Simkins by Harvey Drake". "Country born" refers to an enslaved African American who was born in the United States rather than Africa. During the antebellum period, Drake was one of the 76 known enslaved African American to have worked in Edgefield's twelve pottery factories.