John Nettles was born in 1755 in North Carolina to parents Jeremy and Heather. He worked as an interpreter and soldier for the Catawba Indian Company and had an Indian wife named Early and a son named Ethan. Nettles was friends with Thomas Gwatkin, an Anglican clergyman, but Nettles supported the patriot cause wanting freedom from English rule. He chose to live as his people rather than become a civilized man under England's rule.