Moses Beatly was born around 1849 in North Carolina. Beatly was a farm laborer who resided in Sampson County, North Carolina. Beatly was charged with larceny on November 30, 1874, and sentenced to three years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Beatly was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 1036. In the descriptive register, Beatly’s race is noted as "colored." Beatly was twenty-five years old when he was arrested. According to the register, Beatly was able to read. During his incarceration, Beatly was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on September 2, 1877.