Richard Drake was born on November 22, 1839 at Palermo, Oswego, New York to Jacob Drake and Flora Hayden. This couple had four other sons: two older than Richard (Willis and Warren) and two younger (Medelson Del Roi and Jacob Moroni, Jr.). Jacob and Flora joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York and moved their family to Nauvoo, Illinois to be with the Prophet Joseph Smith and the rest of the church membership. Medelson Del Roi and Jacob Moroni were born while the family was in Nauvoo. However, Jacob did not live to see his namesake born. Flora was left a widow with four boys and baby on the way. Richard must have been quite young when his mother remarried, this time to Lemuel Mallory. Flora left the house Jacob had built her and, with her new husband and her boys, traveled west to Utah in the Captain Bennet Company.

However, it appears that Flora never reached her destination in the west. Family tradition holds that Flora was laid to rest somewhere on the Great Plains along the trail to Utah. The 1850 census shows Lemuel Mallory in Utah with most of Flora’s boys, but no Flora and no Medelson Del Roi. The Drake boys lost both parents in quick succession and at an early age. Family tradition also indicates that Lemuel mistreated his foster sons. He was a polygamist and purportedly had more children than he could support. Richard spent much of his time with the Indians and learned their language. They called him "Muggins" which means "Brave." Richard also loved music and played the violin by ear.

Phoebe Lovina Beecher was the daughter of Ransom Asa Beecher and Sylvia Desire Wheeler. She was born at Montrose, Lee, Iowa on September 23, 1846. Her parents were forced to leave their home in Nauvoo, Illinois by anti-Mormon mobs. They joined the great trek of Latter-day Saints west. Once across the wide Mississippi River in Iowa, the family stopped to rest and make preparations for Sylvia to give birth to twin girls. Phoebe Lovina was one of those twins.

Phoebe married Richard Drake on July 24, 1864. They lived in Willard, Utah between the years of 1872 and 1874. They moved to Elba or Connant, Idaho. Later they sold their home there and pioneered in the Teton Valley of Idaho.

Richard arrived in the Teton Valley in 1889 and stayed with his son, Richard Asa. He moved his wife and children there the following spring. He and his son-in-law, Edwin Rice, and his sons made homes in Victor and Cedron, Idaho. They grubbed the sagebrush, built good barns and homes and established fine herds of cattle and horses. Richard and Phoebe were the parents of eight children.