Nash Trollenger was born around 1854 in North Carolina. Trollenger worked as a laborer and resided in Orange County, North Carolina. Trollenger was charged with larceny on April 15, 1878, and sentenced to three years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Trollenger was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2665. Trollenger's race was noted as "colored." Trollenger was twenty-four years old when he was arrested. Trollenger was noted as being able to read. During his incarceration, Trollenger was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on January 4, 1881.