Rufus Wheeden was born around 1851 in North Carolina. Wheeden worked as a laborer and resided in Halifax County, North Carolina. Wheeden was charged with larceny on May 4, 1874, and sentenced to four years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Wheeden was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 867. In his sentencing records, Wheeden’s race is noted as "colored." Wheeden was twenty-three 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, Wheeden was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He died while working on the Western North Carolina Railroad on June 27, 1877.