Gordon H. Rudisill was born in Catawba County, North Carolina on 28 August 1901. In 1919 he was caught making illegal moonshine and sentenced to working on the state road crew for six months. Upon reviewing his case, Governor Thomas W. Bickett pardoned Rudisill three months into his sentence, stipulating that Rudisill would be placed on probation for an additional five years. Rudisill died due to a car accident in McDowell County, North Carolina on December 29, 1926.