George Rountree was born around 1857 in North Carolina. Rountree was a striker who resided in Wilson County, North Carolina. Rountree was charged with larceny on April 27, 1878, and sentenced to five years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Rountree was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2659. In the descriptive register, Rountree's race is noted as "mulatto." Rountree was twenty-one years old when he was arrested. Rountree was noted as being able to both read and write. During his incarceration, Rountree was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was pardoned on December 12, 1880.