Melvina Stetson was born around 1846 in Massachusetts to Jeremiah and Happy Stetson. Her father was a carpenter who owned $500 of real estate and $32 of personal property in 1860. She grew up and attended school in Hanson, Massachusetts. She married John D. Stebbins in Hanson on March 10, 1866, and they had at least seven children: Edward, born around 1868; Bradley, born around 1870; Alfred, born around 1876; Sarah, born around 1879; Josephine, born around 1881; John, born around 1885; and Mildred, born around 1887. They lived in Hanson, and her husband worked as a tack maker. She died in Hanson on March 24, 1928.