George Wilson was born around 1846 in Maryland. Wilson worked as a laborer and resided in Halifax County, North Carolina. Wilson was charged with larceny on November 2, 1874, and sentenced to two years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Wilson was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 985. In the descriptive register, Wilson's race is noted as Black. Wilson was twenty-eight 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, Wilson was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on October 28, 1876.