Buena Vista Cooper was born on February 2, 1846, in Georgia to Temple Franklin Cooper and Unity Love Patrick. Her father was a lawyer who owned $5,000 of real estate and $15,000 of personal property in 1860. She grew up in Franklin County, and she married George S. Cobb around 1865. They had at least four children: Cooper, born around 1867; Amica, born around 1869; George, born around 1871; and Jessie, born around 1873. By 1870, the family was living in Atlanta, Georgia, and her mother Unity was living with them. The family moved to Cartersville, Georgia sometime in the 1870s, and Buena Vista remained there for the rest of her life. Her husband died between 1900 and 1910, and she followed on April 23, 1932.