John E. Scott was born around 1848 in North Carolina. Scott was a cooper who resided in Cumberland County, North Carolina. Scott was charged with murder on January 6, 1874, and sentenced to five years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Scott was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 795. In his sentencing records, Scott’s race is noted as "colored." The 1860 and 1880 Federal Census records Scott’s race as “mulatto.” Scott was twenty-six years old when he was arrested. He was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Scott was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was pardoned and discharged on December 19, 1876. He married Caroline Carter in January 1873.