Alonzo Chapman was born around 1853 in North Carolina. Chapman was a farmer who resided in Pitt County, North Carolina. Chapman was charged with burglary on April 16, 1873, and sentenced to three years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Chapman was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 667. In the descriptive register, Chapman’s race is noted as Black. Chapman was twenty years old when he was arrested. The register notes that Chapman was able to read. During his incarceration, Chapman was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on April 18, 1876.