John Tate was a laborer in Pasquotank Precinct, North Carolina. In March 1715 he and a group of others stole a chest from James Tooke's property and then fled south, intending to escape justice by reaching the Spanish colony in Florida. Tate and his group were apprehended in Bath County, North Carolina and sent back to Perquimans Precinct, North Carolina to face trial. Tate was found guilty of burglary and sentenced to death by hanging in April 1715.