Horace Miner was born in 1849 in Virginia. He later moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a whaler aboard the vessel Petrel. In 1870, records described him as African American, 21 years old, and 5'7" tall. By the end of 1873, Mr. Miner was incarcerated in the Massachusetts State Prison. He died there on July 31, 1878, at 29 years old.
