John Fenix was a free African American man residing in Pasquotank Precinct, North Carolina. In March 1715, he and several others stole a chest from James Tooke's plantation and intended to flee south towards a Spanish settlement in Florida and escape justice. However, Fenix and his group were captured in Bath County and brought back to Pasquotank for trial. In April 1715 Fenix was found guilty of burglary and sentenced to death by hanging.