Peter Smith was born around 1848 in North Carolina. Smith worked as a laborer and resided in Robeson County, North Carolina. Smith was charged with larceny on September 16, 1878, and sentenced to three years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Smith was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2819. In the descriptive register, Smith's race is noted as Black. Smith was thirty years old when he was arrested. Smith was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Smith was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He died while imprisoned on May 10, 1881.