Lee Ardry was born around 1853 in North Carolina. Ardry worked as a laborer and resided in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Ardry was charged with larceny on May 17, 1875, and sentenced to three years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Ardry was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 1262. In the descriptive register, Ardry's race is noted as "colored." Ardry was twenty-eight years old when he was arrested. Ardry was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Ardry 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 July 4, 1876.