Captain William Driver was born on March 17, 1803 in Salem, Massachusetts. At the age of 13 he apprenticed with a blacksmith, Abner Goodhue, but soon realized that his real calling was to be at sea. At the age of 14 he began his career at sea, sailing on the brig China. Driver quickly rose through the ranks, becoming captain of the ship Charles Daggett at the age of 21. He then spent the next two years travelling to Calcutta, first on the ship George, then the brigs Jason and Batavia. When he returned back to Salem from his voyage on the Batavia, he was promoted to mate and trading officer onboard the Clay (Merrill 14-15). At the age of 21 he was a licensed master mariner (Roland 22). It was after accepting command of the Charles Daggett that Driver was presented with a flag from his mother and the other women of Salem. He named the flag "Old Glory", a name that has stuck with the American flag to this day. When "Old Glory" was not being flown from the masthead of Driver's ship it was kept in a wooden sea chest, or suspended by a rope from Driver's attic to a tree across the street (Kerchendorfer 68-70). During the Civil War, Driver had his neighbors help him sew "Old Glory" inside of a quilt to hide it from Confederate troops. When Federalist troops arrived in Nashville, Driver presented them with "Old Glory" to hang over the state capital building (Roland 37). In 1873, Driver gave his daughter Mary "Old Glory" (Roland 91), who presented it to President Warren G. Harding in 1922; Harding in turn gave the flag to the Smithsonian Institution (Jenkins 4). There remained for many years controversy over where the original "Old Glory" ended up: eaten by donkeys during the Civil War, given to the Essex Institute in Salem by Driver's niece, or with Driver's daughter, Martha, which turned out to be the true story.

During his ninth voyage, Driver arrived in Tahiti in 1831, where he met former inhabitants of Pitcairn Island. These inhabitants were descendants of the HMS Bounty mutineers who had landed on Pitcairn Island and they begged Driver to bring them back to their native island. The Charles Daggett left Tahiti for Pitcairn Island on August 14, 1831 with 65 islanders, who paid Driver only a small sum of money for his trouble (Merrill 27- 41).

Driver married Martha Silsbee Babbage on September 19, 1830, and they had three children together. In 1837 Driver retired from the sea after his wife died from throat cancer, leaving him with three small children. He moved his family to Nashville, Tennessee; his brothers George and Stephen, had already moved there and opened a store. The next year Driver married Sarah Jane Parks, a woman half his age. They had nine children together. Driver died on March 3, 1886 (Jenkins 2).