Mason Whitley was born around 1855 in North Carolina. Whitley worked as a laborer and resided in Wayne County, North Carolina. Whitley was charged with larceny on January 4, 1875, and sentenced to two years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Whitley was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 1079. In the descriptive register Whitley's race is noted as "colored."  Whitley was nineteen years old when he was arrested. Whitley was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Whitley was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on November 23, 1876.