Nettie L. St. Jermain (maiden name: Lettington) was born around 1840 in New York to Horace and Hannah Lettington. Her father was a wheelwright. She grew up in Chenango County, New York, and she married Edward St. Jermain around 1861. They had two children: Ernestine, born around 1863; and Deettie, born around 1874. They lived in Rochester, New York, and her husband worked as a compositor. She remained in Rochester for the rest of her life, and she died there on January 24, 1907.