Willis Perry was born around 1859 in North Carolina. Perry worked as a laborer and resided in Hyde County, North Carolina. Perry was charged with larceny on May 7, 1878, and sentenced to one year in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Perry was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2695. In the descriptive register, Perry's race is noted as Black. Perry was nineteen years old when he was arrested. Perry was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Perry was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on April 7, 1879.