Dawson Rush was born around 1850 in North Carolina. Rush worked as a laborer and resided in Montgomery County, North Carolina. Rush was charged with larceny on March 8, 1875, and sentenced to two years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Rush was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 1142. In the descriptive register, Rush's race is noted as "colored."  Rush was twenty-seven years old when he was arrested. Rush was noted as being able to read. During his incarceration, Rush was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He died while working on the Western North Carolina Railroad on May 2, 1876.