Nancy Francelia Cook was born on May 14, 1853, in Crete, Illinois, to Moses H. Cook and Hannah Pixley. Her father was a farmer who owned $4,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property by 1860. She grew up and attended school in Crete. She married Charles Bissett on February 25, 1875, and they had eight children, including: Mary, born around 1882; Charles, born around 1886; Stella, born around 1888; and Helen, born around 1893. They lived in Crete, and her husband worked as a farmer. Charles died in the early 1900s, and by 1910, she was living with her daughter Helen in Crete. She died in Steger, Illinois, on April 3, 1919.