Edwin Drake was born in Greenville, Greene County, New York on March 29,

1819, the son of Lyman and Laura (ne Lee) Drake. His family later moved
to Vermont in1825. With little formal education, Drake left home at the age
of 19 with no particular profession in mind and did odd jobs for 11 years.
During that time, in 1845, Edwin Drake fell in love with and married Philena
Adams, who died while giving birth to their second child in 1854. In 1849, he
got a job in railways around New Haven, Connecticut as a clerk, express
agent and a conductor where he would spend the next eight years. Drake
remarried three years later to Laura Dowd, sixteen years his junior, in 1857.
During this summer, illness prevented Drake from carrying on with his job.
During this time, in 1845, he married Philena Adams who died while giving
birth to their second child in 1854. Drake remarried three years later to Laura
Dowd, sixteen years his junior, in 15 June 1857, with whom he had three
children. During this summer, illness prevented Drake from carrying on with
his job. By 1858, the Drake family found themselves living in Titusville,
Pennsylvania.