Melissa Smith (maiden name Woods) was born on June 4, 1801, in Massachusetts. She married Reuben Smith, and they had at least two children: Sarah, born around 1832; and Samuel, born around 1839. They lived in Crown Point, New York, and her husband worked as a farmer. By 1850, they owned $4,500 of real estate. A decade later, they owned $4,900 of real estate and $3,030 of personal property, and by 1870, their wealth had grown to $7,500 of real estate and $4,500 of personal property. Her husband died on February 8, 1871. By 1875, she was living in her daughter Sarah’s household in Crown Point. She died in New York on March 5, 1881.