Walter Mullen Harrell was born on 19 April 1918, in Gates, North Carolina, United States, his father, Walter Jackson Harrell, was 41 and his mother, Maggie Pearl Mullen, was 23. He lived in Holly Grove, Gates, North Carolina, United States in 1920 and Hunters Mill Township, Gates, North Carolina, United States in 1930. He died on 30 January 1939, in Hobbsville, Gates, North Carolina, United States, at the age of 20, and was buried in Cool Spring Baptist Church Cemetery, Eure, Gates, North Carolina, United States.