Daniel Meade was born around 1854 in Virginia. Meade worked as a laborer and resided in Northampton County, North Carolina. Meade was charged with larceny on April 8, 1878, and sentenced to three years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Meade was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2646. In the descriptive register, Meade's race is noted as Black. Meade was twenty-four years old when he was arrested. Meade was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Meade was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged on January 3, 1881.