Edward Butler was born around 1862 in North Carolina. Butler worked as a laborer and resided in Warren County, North Carolina. Butler was charged with larceny and receiving stolen goods on February 4, 1878, and sentenced to one year in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Butler was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2567. In the descriptive register, Butler's race is noted as Black. Butler was sixteen years old when he was arrested. Butler was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Butler was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on January 11, 1879.