Nathan Wingate was born around 1832 in North Carolina. Wingate worked as a laborer and resided in Craven County, North Carolina. Wingate was charged with larceny on April 12, 1878, and sentenced to five years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Wingate was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2653. Wingate's race was described as “colored.” Wingate was forty-six years old when he was arrested. Wingate was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Wingate was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on October 20, 1882.