Laura M. Whitney (maiden name: Pickett) was born around 1819 in New York to Dennis Pickett and Clarissa Davis. Her father was a farmer who owned $900 of real estate in 1850. She married Rufus Whitney around 1839, and they had at least two children: Albert, born on September 17, 1840; and Edwin, born around 1842. The family lived in Almond, New York, and her husband worked as a farmer. By 1850, they owned $3,000 of real estate. A decade later, they owned $6,500 of real estate. She died sometime after 1863.