Norman Lewis was born in North Carolina in May 1886. Lewis was raised by his grandfather in Halifax County, North Carolina. In September 1910, the chief of police in Spring Hope (Nash County) attempted to arrest Lewis at his home on the charge that he had sold liquor. Lewis allegedly shot the police chief upon his entering the Lewis home, the effects from which the police chief later died. Lewis was arrested on the charge of murder and was executed by the state via electric chair in Raleigh on May 12, 1911.