Mary L. Woodward was born around 1846 in York, Maine, to George Woodward and Tamara Dennison. Her father was a farmer who owned $1,500 of real estate and $328 of personal property in 1860. Her mother died in June 1863, and her father followed in January 1870. By 1870, Woodward was working as a domestic servant in the household of Samuel and Frances Sedgley in York. By 1880, she was living alone in her own home. She died on April 26, 1889.