Peter K. Jones was born around 1858 in Virginia. Jones worked as a laborer and resided in Halifax County, North Carolina. Jones was charged with larceny and receiving stolen goods on May 6, 1878, and sentenced to ten years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Jones was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2690. In the descriptive register, Jones's race is noted as Black. Jones was twenty years old when he was arrested. Jones was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Jones was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He died while incarcerated on May 22, 1879.