Demas (or "Demos") Edmonds (or "Edmunds") was born around 1853 in North Carolina. Edmonds was a farm laborer who resided of Conocannara (Halifax County), North Carolina, with his wife Louisa and their children. Edmonds was charged with larceny on November 4, 1872, and sentenced to two years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Edmonds was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 584. In his sentencing records, Edmonds' race is noted as "colored." The register notes his "color" as Black. Demas was nineteen years old when he was arrested. Edmonds was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. He was discharged from the State Penitentiary on October 22, 1874.