James Sands was born around 1854 in North Carolina. Sands was a wagoner who resided in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Sands was charged with larceny on April 29, 1878, and sentenced to three years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Sands was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2689. In the descriptive register, Sands's race is noted as white. Sands was twenty-four years old when he was arrested. Sands was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Sands was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged on July 4, 1881.