Giles Heilig was born around 1849 in North Carolina. Heilig was a farm laborer and miner who resided in Salisbury (Rowan County) and Stanly County, North Carolina. Heilig was charged with pursuing livestock on March 25, 1878, and sentenced to two years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Heilig was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2624. Heilig's race was described as "colored."  Heilig was twenty-nine years old when he was arrested. Heilig was noted as being able to read. During his incarceration, Heilig was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged on January 26, 1880.