Frances M. Upson was born on November 30, 1845, in Kensington, Connecticut, to Gustavus Upson and Emily Woodruff. Her father was a farmer who owned $5,000 of real estate and $900 of personal property in 1860. Frances grew up and attended school in Hartford County, Connecticut. She married Civil War veteran Norman Woodruff Warren in Kensington on April 28, 1870, and they had at least three children: Gustavus, born around 1873; Bertha, born around 1875; and Norman, born around 1876. Her husband died around 1876. She applied for a federal pension in July 1890 and eventually secured one. She lived in Hartford County, Connecticut, with her children until at least 1900, and she died around 1903.