Neill Shaw (alias Smith) was born around 1842 in North Carolina. Shaw worked as a laborer and resided in Robeson County, North Carolina. Shaw was charged with larceny on March 15, 1875, and sentenced to five years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Shaw was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 1156. In the descriptive register, Shaw's race is noted as "colored." Shaw was thirty-three years old when he was arrested. Shaw was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Shaw was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on October 18, 1879.