Liston Crawford was born around 1857 in North Carolina. Crawford worked as a laborer and resided in Sharon (Mecklenburg County), North Carolina. Crawford was accused of stealing money from a store till, charged with larceny on March 5, 1875, and sentenced to five years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Crawford was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 1119. In the descriptive register, Crawford's race is noted as "colored." Crawford was eighteen years old when he was arrested. Crawford was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Crawford was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on October 3, 1879. Crawford married Flora Grier on July 15, 1880.