Born in roughly 1844, Hosea states that he was "raised in the mountains" during his early years. He also mentions that his father lived a life of "sin and debauchery that would make an emperor blush" until he died at age 75, and that he did love him - despite only seeing him three months in his life. In his early years, Matthews was briefly a stage actor who had dreams of being a comedian, although he later became an outlaw. Hosea was once caught stealing a chicken by "some hill country sheriff"