Ben Moore was born around 1856 in North Carolina. Moore worked as a laborer and resided in Wayne County, North Carolina. Moore was charged with larceny on September 24, 1878, and sentenced to three years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Moore was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2826. Moore's race is noted as Black. Moore was twenty-two years old when he was arrested. Moore was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Moore was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He died while imprisoned on May 15, 1879.