Josiah Peele was born in Nansemond County, Virginia on December 20, 1723. A Quaker, Peele became a resident of Dobbs County (later Wayne), North Carolina by 1756. His taxable property is used as an example in a petition from the Wayne County Quakers in 1780, which asked the state's assembly to reconsider the tax amounts placed on Quakers. Peele died in Pitt County, North Carolina on May 7, 1791.