David was born on the 2nd of February 1842, in Hope Falls, New York, (a small community within the town of Hope, New York) and he enlisted in the Navy in January of 1865. It was his actions during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher that would later earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. Minnesota in action during the assault on Fort Fisher, 15 January 1865. Landing on the beach with the assaulting party from his ship, Seaman Bass advanced to the top of the sand hill and partly through the breach in the palisades despite enemy fire which killed and wounded many officers and men. When more than two-thirds of the men became seized with panic and retreated on the run, he remained with the party until dark, when it came safely away, bringing its wounded, its arms, and its colors.

David received the Medal of Honor five months later and returned to New York after the war, working as a blacksmith. He married Delia Walrath in 1868 and the couple had three children. David Lawrence Bass died on the 15th of October 1886, at the age of 44 and he is buried in the Wilcox Cemetery in Little Falls, New York.