Abram Gorrell was born around 1852 in North Carolina. Gorrell worked in a brickyard, and later as a day-laborer, in Greensboro (Guilford County), North Carolina. Gorrell was charged with larceny on March 1, 1875, and sentenced to three years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Gorrell was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 1127. In the descriptive register, Gorrell 's race is noted as "colored." Gorrell was twenty-three years old when he was arrested. Gorrell was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Gorrell was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on January 1, 1878.