David Field was born around 1830 in Virginia. Field worked as a laborer and resided in Warren County, North Carolina. Field was charged with larceny on August 25, 1875, and sentenced to two years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Field was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 1315. In the descriptive register, Field's race is noted as "colored." Field was forty-five years old when he was arrested. Field was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Field was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on June 19, 1877.