Richard Carver was born around 1847 in North Carolina. Carver worked as a laborer and resided in Wake County, North Carolina. Carver was charged with larceny on October 6, 1874, and sentenced to four years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Carver was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 944. In his sentencing records, Carver's race is noted as "colored."  Carver was twenty-seven years old when he was arrested. He was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Carver was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was killed by a rockslide while working on the Western North Carolina Railroad on April 25, 1876.