Primus Davis was born around 1857 in North Carolina. Davis worked as a laborer and resided in Warrenton (Warren County), North Carolina. Davis was charged with burglary and larceny on February 22, 1875, and sentenced to three years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Davis was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 1106. In the descriptive register Davis’s race is noted as "colored."  Davis was seventeen years old when he was arrested. Davis was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Davis was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on November 24, 1877.