Daniel Hunly was born around 1855 in North Carolina. Hunly was a wagoner and farm laborer who resided in Snow Creek (Stokes County), North Carolina with his wife Elizabeth and their children. Hunly was charged with larceny on May 27, 1878, and sentenced to one year in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Hunly was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2729. In the descriptive register, Hunly's race is noted as white. Hunly was twenty-three years old when he was arrested. Hunly was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Hunly was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged on April 20, 1879.