Frank Murchison Register was born on August 6, 1870, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Register was the head physician at the state prison farm in Halifax County from about 1902 until his resignation in March 1917. In the months before his resignation, Dr. Register had a falling out with prison officials, namely Captain Cephas N. Christian, over what he considered to be an excessive and cruel use of corporal punishment. He became publicly critical of the state’s prison system and finally determined to leave his position following the passage of a law that would require a prison physician or clergyman to be present during the administration of whippings. He died in Kinston (Lenoir County) on September 28, 1939.