Introduction

Historical records show that the first documentation of ownership of an enslaved young man known as Dave is a mortgage agreement dated June 13, 1818. This agreement indicates that Dave was about seventeen years old and was owned by Harvey Drake. Most likely, Drake purchased Dave at a slave auction in Augusta, Georgia, prior to 1818 and took him to Pottersville, a village outside Edgefield, South Carolina, where Drake and his uncles—the Landrum brothers—had a stoneware pottery business. Eventually Dave was taught how to make pots, jugs, and jars on a potter’s wheel; fire them; and glaze them using the Landrums’ famous alkaline glazes. Soon Dave became one of the best potters in the Edgefield district. Here is his inspiring story.