Nancy Panina Sanders was born on July 7, 1856, in Vincennes, Indiana, to John W. Sanders and Ritty Ann Selsor. Her father was a farmer who owned $400 of real estate and $175 of personal property by 1860. The family moved to Medicine, Missouri, in the late 1850s and then to Washington, Missouri, in the 1860s.
She married Albert Monk around 1874, and they had at least seven children: Rosetta, born around 1876; Alonzo, born around 1876; William, born around 1880; Jacob, born around 1883; Jesse, born around 1885; Otto, born around 1888; and Albert, born around 1895. They lived in Washington, Missouri, and her husband worked as a farmer. They moved to Marion, Missouri, in the late 1800s, and then to Nodaway, Missouri, in the early 1900s. Her husband died in 1913. She moved to Burlington Junction, Missouri, in the 1820s, and by 1930, her home was valued at $1,500. She died there on July 1, 1932.