Albert Dix was born around 1858 in North Carolina. Dix worked as a laborer and resided in Forsyth County, North Carolina. Dix was charged with larceny on May 13, 1878, and sentenced to one year in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Dix was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2710. Dix's race is described as "colored." Dix was nineteen years old when he was arrested. Dix was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Dix was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on April 13, 1879.