Michael Green was born around 1855 in North Carolina. Green worked as a laborer and resided in Lenoir County, North Carolina. Green was charged with larceny on October 9, 1878, and sentenced to one year in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Green was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2842. Green's race is noted as Black. Green was twenty-three years old when he was arrested. Green was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Green was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged on September 9, 1879.