Jennie Foster was probably born in Beverly, Massachusetts, around 1845 to John and Hannah W. Foster. Her father was a shoemaker who owned $1,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property in 1860. She probably attended school in Beverly, and by 1870, she was working in a shoe factory. She may have gotten married sometime after 1870. The 1900 federal census recorded her living with her father and her sister Elizabeth in Beverly. She died sometime after 1900.