Mary Adelaide Burdick was born on October 23, 1856, in Connecticut to James B. Burdick and Eunice Rix. Her father was a farmer who owned $4,000 of real estate and $2,000 of personal property by 1860. She grew up and attended school in Griswold, Connecticut. She never married, and she remained in her parents’ household until at least 1900. By 1910, she was living in Preston, Connecticut. She moved to Jewett City, Connecticut, in the 1910s. By 1930, she owned a house valued at $6,000. She died on April 9, 1947