Charles Brown was born around 1850 in North Carolina. Brown worked as a servant and resided in Wilson County, North Carolina. Brown was charged with larceny on May 6, 1878, and sentenced to two years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Brown was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2696. In the descriptive register, Brown's race is noted as "mulatto."  Brown was eighteen years old when he was arrested. Brown was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Brown was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged on March 2, 1880.