Cephas Newton Christian was born on March 24, 1864, in Surry County, North Carolina. Christian began his career with the state’s prison system around 1886. As superintendent of Camp No. 1 at Caledonia, Christian gained a reputation for cruelty, exhibiting a propensity to administer whippings and to force—physically if necessary—sick men to work. Christian came under scrutiny during a 1917 investigation, the camp’s physician testifying that the superintendent ruthlessly beat a paralyzed, mentally ill inmate named George Snyder. Despite the credible accusations, Christian remained at his post and was eventually promoted to superintendent of the state prison farm in its new location in Raleigh. In January 1922, the prison’s Board of Directors removed Christian from this position, assigning him instead to the superintendency of the convict gangs then working on the Williamston bridge. He died in Mocksville (Davie County) on May 17, 1937.